Boeing Co.
BA,
Chief Executive David Calhoun on Tuesday told employees the jet maker needed to acknowledge its mistakes, after a panel blew off a 737 Max 9 jet flown by Alaska Airlines days earlier, and approach the matter with “complete transparency.”
“We are going to approach this, No. 1, acknowledging our mistake,” Calhoun told employees at a meeting at a 737 factory in Renton, Wash. “We’re going to approach it with 100% and complete transparency every step of the way.”
The remarks and the meeting were first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The Journal reported that Calhoun said that incidents like these shake airlines “to the bone, just like it shook me.”
“They have confidence in all of us — they do — and they will again,” he continued, according to the Journal.
Investigators are still looking into the cause of the incident aboard the flight, which took place on Friday. The government over the weekend grounded 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 jets in response. The focus of the probe into the incident has centered on possible missing bolts, known as a door plugs, used to secure the panel.
More troubling for Boeing is the fact that United Airlines
UAL,
has also reported finding loose bolts in other panels after inspecting its Max 9 jets. The focus is also on subcontractor and Boeing spinoff Spirit AeroSystems
SPR,
which installs the plugs in Max 9 fuselages.
Shares of Boeing finished 1.4% lower during regular trading hours on Tuesday.
Read: Boeing’s stock should be in the penalty box for now, investment manager says
Barbara Kollmeyer contributed to this article
