In a recent revelation, a former quality manager exposed troubling practices at Spirit AeroSystems, a key supplier for Boeing's 737 Max. Santiago Paredes, who worked at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kansas, for ten years, disclosed that he faced pressure to minimize issues he discovered while inspecting the plane's fuselages.
Paredes, in an interview with CBS News, shared that he uncovered numerous defects daily during his inspections, indicating a pervasive quality control problem at the facility. He expressed his disappointment, stating, "If quality mattered, I would still be at Spirit."
Speaking out publicly for the first time, Paredes highlighted instances where he identified issues near the same aircraft door panel that malfunctioned during an Alaska Airlines flight earlier this year. He attributed such incidents to the company's negligence and the undue pressure placed on inspectors to overlook defects.
Paredes emphasized the importance of fostering a culture that prioritizes quality and addresses issues promptly, underscoring the need for significant improvements at Spirit AeroSystems.
The findings of the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation reveal that during the final assembly of the Alaska Airlines aircraft, the door panel was removed to facilitate defect repairs by a Spirit AeroSystems team. However, it appears that the bolts securing the panel were not reinstalled.
Spirit AeroSystems, a company separate from Spirit Airlines and spun off from Boeing almost two decades ago, has come under scrutiny following the Federal Aviation Administration's imposition of quality checks and production expansion halts on the 737 Max after the January Alaska Airlines incident.
Paredes, who departed from the company in mid-2022, shared with CBS News that his firsthand observations make him reluctant to fly on these planes.
"While at Spirit, I developed a fear of flying," Paredes stated. "My knowledge of the 737 makes me very uneasy when I have to fly on one of them."
Spirit spokesman Joe Buccino mentioned, "We urge all Spirit employees with concerns to step forward, assured of their protection. We are dedicated to addressing concerns and continually enhancing workplace safety standards."
CBS News interviewed various present and former Spirit AeroSystems employees and examined images of dented fuselages, absent fasteners, and even a wrench reportedly left behind in a supposedly ready-to-be-delivered component. Paredes alleged that Boeing was aware for years that Spirit was dispatching faulty fuselages.
"It's a disaster waiting to happen," Paredes expressed. "I had mentioned that it was only a matter of time before something went wrong."
A Boeing spokesperson told CBS News the company has long had a team that finds and fixes defects in fuselages built by Spirit AeroSystems as Boeing assembled the planes. The spokesperson said since the beginning of March, Boeing engineers have been inspecting each Spirit fuselage as it rolls off the production line in Wichita.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said in a recent interview with CNBC the increased oversight in Kansas has reduced the number of fuselages with defects, or what Boeing calls 'nonconformities," arriving at the 737 assembly plant in Washington State by about 80 percent. The company is currently weighing buying back Spirit AeroSystems to further improve quality. Boeing spun off Spirit, formerly known as Boeing Wichita, in 2005.
During its earning call this week, Spirit CEO Patrick Shanahan noted an improvement in quality from the newly implemented inspection protocols noting a 15 percent improvement in quality during the first quarter.
"I think we've made substantial improvement in realigning all the inspections, interpreting the engineering specifications in an exacting manner so that the eyes of Boeing and the eyes of Spirit are the same," Shanahan said.
Shanahan became CEO in October of 2023 following Boeing's discovery of mis-drilled holes on many 737 Max fuselages received from Spirit that had to be repaired by Boeing.
The Whistleblower
Amidst the rush to get planes out, Paredes found himself in a moral dilemma. In February 2022, he was asked to expedite his inspections by skimming over details of fuselage issues. Feeling uneasy about the request, Paredes spoke up, calling it "unethical" and uncomfortable.
His refusal to comply led to him being removed from his leadership role. Despite filing a complaint with HR and being reinstated, Paredes decided to resign from Spirit in the summer of 2022, citing the toll of the situation on his conscience.
"I was tired of fighting," Paredes expressed. "I was tired of trying to do the right thing."
"Whistleblower Alleges Quality Failures"
Paredes, an Air Force veteran, spent 12 years at Spirit AeroSystems' Wichita plant before leaving in 2022 to work for another Boeing supplier. In a shareholder lawsuit against Spirit, Paredes was cited as "Former Employee 1" alleging "widespread quality failures" at the company — failures that Paredes says their client, Boeing, was aware of.
Buccino, the Spirit spokesman, calls the allegations "unfounded."
The company has asked a judge to dismiss the shareholder lawsuit, arguing, in part, the fact that Paredes was reinstated after it was found he was wrongfully demoted following his ethics complaint is proof the company values quality control.
"Santiago Paredes is one of these brave whistleblowers who chose to come forward and speak publicly. His powerful story points to the need for accountability and responsibility in the aviation industry," his attorneys Brian Knowles and Robert Turkewitz told CBS News. "It is time for profits over safety, quality, and people to come to an end. Actions speak louder than words."
The lawyers say they are working with at least 10 former and current Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems employees who have raised safety concerns.
Paredes is not the only whistleblower to speak out publicly on quality issues relating to Boeing planes.
In March, John "Mitch" Barnett was in the midst of depositions relating to his claims Boeing retaliated against him for complaints about quality lapses when he was found in his car dead from a gunshot wound in Charleston, South Carolina, where Boeing has its 787 manufacturing facility.
Joshua Dean, a former quality auditor at Spirit AeroSystems, was one of the first to allege Spirit leadership had ignored manufacturing defects on the 737 Max. Dean had given a deposition in the same shareholder lawsuit Paredes is listed in, alleging that Spirit "has a culture of not wanting to look for or to find problems, which has led to poor decisions about quality and manufacturing issues."
Dean passed away last month, after a struggle with a sudden infection.
"In a way I think before, if something happens to me, I'd rather them hear it from me than not hear it at all," Paredes says about going public. "My cry out is not a cry out to get somebody in trouble. My cry out is to highlight the defects that they well known are in their factory, but they need to fix them. So their business can be successful."
