WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee will hold a meeting Wednesday to hear testimony from Boeing’s president, among others.
The committee wants to question President and Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg about restoring Boeing’s status as a great American manufacturer, focusing on safety first.
Boeing’s reputation has been tainted for years and the company is facing a federal conspiracy case, accusing it of misleading regulators about the 737 Max jetliner before two of the planes crashed, killing 346 people.
A federal judge in Texas has set a June trial date for the case.
The development and certification of what has become Boeing’s bestselling airliner became an intense focus of safety investigators after the two Max planes crashed less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019.
Many relatives of passengers who died off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia have pushed for the prosecution of former Boeing officials, a public criminal trial and more severe financial punishment for the company.
Government officials started reexamining the case after a door plug panel blew off an Alaska Airlines 737 Max during flight in January 2024. That incident renewed concerns about manufacturing quality and safety at Boeing, and put the company under intense scrutiny by regulators and lawmakers.