$3.1 Million Fine: Boeing Settles Quality Violations with FAA

Boeing quietly paid the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) $3.1 million in January to settle multiple quality violations. The FAA confirmed the amount, saying the penalty was settled at the start of the year without an announcement.

The fine covers violations found between September 2023 and February 2024, which led up to a mid-air emergency on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 after takeoff. Investigators identified hundreds of quality-system violations at Boeing's 737 line in Renton, Washington, and at the Wichita, Kansas, fuselage plant operated by supplier Spirit AeroSystems.

The FAA also found that Boeing presented two aircraft for airworthiness certificates that weren't airworthy and failed to follow its own quality procedures. In one case, a Boeing employee pressured an inspector to sign off on a 737 MAX despite the plane not meeting regulatory standards.

Boeing says it has since overhauled its quality processes, adding new performance indicators and inspection steps under FAA oversight.