Charleston Leader

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation (CST) Committee, questioned Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Matthew Whitaker during an oversight hearing on aviation manufacturing. This hearing follows Boeing's submission of a plan to the FAA to improve its factory operations after multiple whistleblower reports and an incident in January involving an Alaska Airlines flight where a door plug fell off.

During the hearing, Senator Capito addressed Administrator Whitaker regarding quality deficiencies at Boeing, citing a lack of experience among manufacturing workers. She also brought attention to delays with Yeager Airport’s runway extension project in Charleston, W.Va., which she argued are hindering local economic development.

ON QUALITY CONTROL ISSUES AT BOEING:

SEN. CAPITO: “I want to quickly touch on something I think you alluded to or talked a bit about in terms of workforce. The Boeing quality chief said ‘experience on the factory floor in Renton was the number one problem with employees and that half of the employees had less than six years of experience.’ So, Boeing is committed to enhance its training program, increasing it from 8-week minimum to a 10-week minimum. Is more training a replacement for experience, and how do we grow that next generation when we're so thin up top? Do you have any ideas on that or any comments to make on that?”

ADMIN. WHITAKER: “Well, it's certainly a problem. And I would say it's been a problem across the industry. All of the players, whether it's FAA hiring folks or airlines there, there's a— there's a shortage of experienced folks and we're all competing for the same team. In a world of safety management systems, it's a risk that gets identified and needs to be mitigated. So, the best companies identify that risk and put in programs in place to- to mitigate it, which, in some cases, is funding training schools. In some cases, it's bringing back retired employees to mentor on the floor. There are steps that you can take, but it is incumbent upon the companies to take those steps and identify that risk.”

ON YEAGER AIRPORT TERMINAL RENOVATION DELAYS:

SEN. CAPITO: “The airport that I fly into Charleston, West Virginia—Yeager Airport—the FAA formally paused the environmental review of Yeager Airport for our runway extension. You know, it was quite extensive to try to do this. We are in the mountains and have some issues, but we do have a 77-year-old terminal which we are trying to assist them with. Are you familiar with the terminal project?”

ADMIN. WHITAKER: “I mean I'm happy to look into it. As we discussed before my confirmation, I think small community airports are an important part of our infrastructure. So we're very supportive. But as we go through the AIP funding and others, we will certainly be in contact with your office.”

SEN. CAPITO: “We don't have a lot of gates; we always say our international flights are in another terminal. But we don't have a lot of gates; they can't accommodate certain modifications to different planes. We can't bring a bigger plane in—all these kinds of things. So if we're actually going to grow our economy and grow our ability to compete, we're going to have to renovate here and modernize.”

ADMIN WHITAKER: “We’re happy to look into that.”

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