The manufacturer still faces a difficult recovery

Boeing begins another year of reconstruction.

A year ago, the company was again in the spotlight over safety and quality issues when a fuselage panel covering an unused emergency exit door blew in the air from a nearly new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9. The crash scared those on board, although no one was seriously injured, and the plane made a safe emergency landing in Portland, Oregon.

Key bolts were not established before the plane left Boeing’s Renton, Wash., 737 factory, a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board found that the black again picture marquee exporter of the USA.

Boeing shares have fallen more than 30% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 has risen nearly 27%.

Over the past 12 months, Boeing executives have spent a major shakeup that spans replacements in its leadership ranks, including a the new executive directorfor more reliable training for hundreds of factory workers, many of them new.

The company on Friday outlined its progress over the past year, including the start of random quality inspections at factories. Boeing says it has “significantly” reduced the number of defects in the fuselages of 737s produced Spirit AeroSystemswhich it’s redemptionand reduce so-called split work, where tasks to build an aircraft are not performed sequentially, to reduce defects. The manufacturer also said it addressed much of the employee feedback provided during management meetings throughout the year.

After the crash, the Federal Aviation Administration increased oversight of Boeing, limiting production of the best-selling 737 Max jet, although production remains below that level. FAA chief Mike Whittaker said he would will retire on January 20warned the company on Friday that “heightened surveillance is here to stay.”

He said Boeing’s turnaround “is not one year.”

“What is needed is a fundamental cultural shift at Boeing, focused on safety and quality, not profit. This will require continued effort and commitment on Boeing’s part, as well as unwavering monitoring on our part,” Whittaker said in a statement.

That year saw the first of two fatal crashes of its 737 Max, killing 346 people — Boeing’s worst crisis in recent memory. A flight control system was involved in both crashes and the plane was grounded worldwide for nearly two years.

Over the years, there have been other quality flaws that have delayed deliveries of the 737 Max, 787 Dreamliner and the pair of 747s that will serve as Air Force One, among others.

Boeing has lost more than $30 billion since 2019, and its new CEO is tasked with ensuring Boeing’s production increases without the defects that have slowed deliveries in the past.

In August, the company brought Kelly Ortbergformer Rockwell Collins CEO with three decades of experience in the aerospace industry, as Boeing’s new CEO, replacing Dave Calhoun.

A few weeks of Ortberg’s work, Boeing machinists went on strike for nearly two months, a work stoppage that ended after the approval of a new four-year labor contract with a 38% rate increase. Some longtime employees were eager to have Boeing to restore pensionsbut it was not part of the new labor deal.

The strike, however, halted production of most Boeing planes, although factories have resumed output in recent weeks. This sets Boeing up for another year of focus stabilizing production to deliver jetliners to airlines ahead of further ramp-ups, while Airbus continues to outpace Boeing’s deliveries.

This fall, Boeing raised billions to avoid the crisis. Ortberg also said the company would cut back 10% of its workforce of about 170,000. The notices started going out at the end of last year. Ortberg said in October that the company should focus on its core business and review its portfolio.

“I think we’re better off … doing less and doing it better than doing more and doing it poorly,” he said during his first earnings call in October.

In the first weeks of his tenure, he toured factories and moved to Seattle, where most of Boeing’s production is concentrated, and won praise from airline executives who grew irritated with the company’s jet delivery during the post-pandemic travel boom.

Bob Jordan, CEO of Boeing 737 South-westernwarned in an interview last month that it was still “very early” for Boeing to recover, but said he believed Ortberg understood the depth of the company’s problems.

“He doesn’t see it as a Band-Aid. He sees it as a wholesale change to Boeing,” he said.