Blumenthal, Johnson to Hold Hearing with FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker as Next Step in Boeing Probe

[WASHINGTON, DC] – Today, U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) Chairman Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Ranking Member Ron Johnson (R-WI) announced that Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Michael Whitaker will testify at a hearing titled, “FAA Oversight of Boeing’s Broken Safety Culture” on Wednesday, September 25 at 2:00 PM.

In March 2024, PSI received whistleblower disclosures concerning the safety and quality of Boeing’s aircraft manufacturing and assembly processes. Among these disclosures were records indicating that the whistleblower raised these allegations directly to the FAA as early as January 19, 2024.

At the outset of PSI’s inquiry, Blumenthal and Johnson wrote to Administrator Whitaker expressing concern over FAA’s delayed response to alarming whistleblower allegations and requesting information regarding the agency’s oversight of Boeing. Blumenthal and Johnson’s March 2024 letter to Administrator Whitaker is available here.

In June 2024, PSI released a Majority staff memorandum with the Subcommittee’s preliminary findings, including additional whistleblower allegations that Boeing employees were told by superiors to conceal issues from the FAA during inspections. This month’s hearing, which follows an April 2024 hearing featuring testimony from Boeing whistleblowers and a June 2024 hearing with testimony from Dave Calhoun, then-CEO of Boeing, will examine FAA’s oversight of Boeing.

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