FLYERSRIGHTS APPEALS FAA DECISION KEEPING BOEING QC PLAN A SECRET

FlyersRights has appealed the FAA denial of its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the Boeing Quality Control Improvement Plan. This plan was submitted to the FAA seeking relief from restrictions on 737 MAX manufacturing due to numerous safety defects, including the inflight blowout of an unsecured door plug in January 2024.

The FAA provided only the publicly available Executive Summary that was posted on Boeing’s website. It completely withheld over 100 pages of documents and redacted 99% of three more pages.

This appeal goes directly to Administrator Whitaker. The Administrator is in the position to review the agency’s secrecy policies and may choose to release all or portions of the withheld material or ratify long standing FAA policy of keeping all details of its safety regulation secret. The FAA may also come up with a solution in line with the Freedom of Information Act’s command for transparency in government decision making, as well as the Attorney General’s directive to federal agencies to lean in favor of disclosure.

FlyersRights and independent safety experts have still not seen any clear evidence that the Boeing MAX is fixed due to FAA withholding 9500 pages of documents used to unground the plane. Nor has evidence surfaced that FAA or Boeing culture has changed, or that the FAA is fully enacting Congress’s reforms. What the public does know is that Boeing sacrificed safety for quick profits, lied to the FAA, and pressured its quality control personnel to overlook safety defects. Yet the FAA continues to follow the wishes of Boeing for safety secrecy.

If the FAA denies this appeal, FlyersRights may seek judicial review in federal court and will continue its safety advocacy on behalf of air travelers.

The full text of the FlyersRights FOIA request and appeal is available here.