(UnitedVoice.com) – Boeing is one of the most prominent aircraft manufacturers in the country. It’s also received a significant amount of blowback because of incidents related to the company’s safety record and its treatment of whistleblowers. Still, the US has awarded it a massive military contract.
On June 18, reporting confirmed the government awarded Boeing a $212 million Defense Department contract to repair American fighter jets. Specifically, the aerospace manufacturer will repair flight control surfaces on 11 Navy F/A-18 E/F and EA-18G aircraft.
The majority of the repairs will take place in Jacksonville, Florida, but some will also happen in St. Louis, Missouri. The government believes the repairs will be finished in 2028.
The news comes after months of criticism directed at the company after a plug came loose during a flight in January and blew a hole in the side of a flight midair. A teenage boy was sitting next to the hole, and the force of the wind sucked his shirt off of his body. At the time, the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was about 16,000 feet in the air. If the plane had been any higher, experts believe the incident might have been much more tragic. Two Boeing planes also crashed overseas in the last decade, killing hundreds of people. The company’s CEO recently apologized to the families of the plane crash victims.
In addition to that, several whistleblowers have come forward in recent years and accused the company of putting the public’s safety at risk. Those former employees also said they were subjected to unfair treatment once their supervisors were made aware they had complained.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has launched an investigation into the company after the series of accidents. The senator accused the company of “cutting corners [and] turning a blind eye to glaring problems” which then puts the safety of passengers at risk.
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