Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg testifies before a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing about Boeing’s commitment to address safety concerns in the wake of a January 2024 mid-air emergency involving a new 737 MAX, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 2, 2025.
Ken Cedeno | Reuters
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg on Wednesday outlined to lawmakers the company’s progress on improving its manufacturing and safety standards after years of crises in both its commercial and defense units, including a 2024 near-catastrophic midair door plug blowout on one of its planes that left Boeing’s factory without key bolts installed.
Ortberg, who took the top job at Boeing in August, faced questions from the Senate Commerce Committee about how the company will ensure that it doesn’t repeat past accidents or manufacturing defects.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R.-Texas, the committee’s chairman, said he wants Boeing to succeed and invited Boeing managers and factory workers to report to him their opinions on the company’s turnaround plan. “Consider my door open,” he said.
Ortberg acknowledged the company still has more to do.
“Boeing has made serious missteps in recent years — and it is unacceptable. In response, we have made sweeping changes to the people, processes, and overall structure of our company,” Ortberg said in testimony to the Senate Commerce Committee. “While there is still work ahead of us, these profound changes are underpinned by the deep commitment from all of us to the safety of our products and services.”
Ortberg and other Boeing executives have outlined improvements across the manufacturer’s production lines in recent months, as well as wins like a contract worth more than $20 billion to build the United States’ next generation fighter jet. But lawmakers and regulators have maintained heightened scrutiny on the company, a top U.S. exporter.
“Boeing has been a great American manufacturer and all of us should want to see it thrive,” Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican and chairman of the committee, said in a statement in February announcing the hearing. “Given Boeing’s past missteps and problems, the flying public deserves to hear what changes are being made to rehabilitate the company’s tarnished reputation.”
The Federal Aviation Administration last year capped Boeing’s production of its 737 Max planes at 38 a month following the January 2024 door plug blowout. The agency plans to keep that limit in place, though Boeing is producing below that level.
Ortberg said at the hearing Wednesday that the company could get up to a production rate of 38 Max planes a month this year, but said Boeing wouldn’t push it if the production line isn’t stable.
Acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau said at a Senate hearing last week that the agency’s oversight of the company “extends to ongoing monitoring of Boeing’s manufacturing practices, maintenance procedures, and software updates.”
Correction: Chris Rocheleau is acting FAA administrator. An earlier version misstated his title.
