A whistleblower claims it is a regular occurrence for faulty plane parts to roll off the assembly line at one of Boeing’s biggest suppliers, according to a new report.
In a joint interview with the BBC and CBS, Santiago Paredes revealed that he often found up to 200 defects in individual items manufactured by Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kan., a major supplier of aircraft parts to the company.
Paredes, who worked with the company from 2010 to 2022, claimed to have found “from 50 to 100, 200” defects, especially in the airframes that were supposed to be delivered to Boeing.
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“I was finding a lot of missing joints, a lot of bent parts, sometimes even missing parts,” he added of the manufacturing issues.
Paredes is listed as “former employee 1” in a lawsuit against Spirit brought by its shareholders.
Boeing says in a statement to PEOPLE: “We are working closely with Spirit AeroSystems and its leadership to strengthen the quality of the commercial aircraft we build together.” They also confirmed “preliminary discussions about Spirit AeroSystems becoming part of Boeing again.”
“We believe the reintegration of Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems manufacturing operations would further strengthen aviation safety, improve quality and serve the interests of our customers, employees and shareholders,” the statement continued.
Boeing notes that “While there is no guarantee that we will be able to reach an agreement, we are committed to finding ways to continue to improve the safety and quality of the airplanes that millions of people depend on every day.”
The company also highlighted a recent report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) that found 2023 to be the safest year for commercial aviation.
PEOPLE also reached out directly to Spirit AeroSystems for comment, but they did not immediately respond.
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Spirit Aerosystems told the BBC it “strongly disagrees” with the allegations made by Paredes and says it is “vigorously defending itself against his claims”.
Paredes joins a number of Boeing-related whistleblowers who have revealed alleged quality control problems with parts the company used on its 2024 airplanes. These include John Barnett, a former quality control manager for Boeing who was found dead March 9 in Charleston, SC, allegedly suicides, and Joshua Dean, a former quality auditor at Spirit AeroSystems who died on April 30 after suffering a sudden illness.
Furthermore, the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating Boeing over allegations that the company reported false inspections of aircraft by some of their employees.
A former Spirit employee said during a joint interview with the BBC and CBS that some of the flaws were minor, but others were much more serious. He also noted that he was pressured to have less oversight of quality control during his tenure at the company.
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“They were always making a fuss about why I was finding it, why I was watching it,” he said, adding that he earned the nickname “Showstopper” because he slowed down production in an effort to be more cautious.
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Paredes further claimed, “They just wanted the product delivered. They weren’t focused on the consequences of delivering bad hulls. They were just focused on meeting quotas, meeting schedules, meeting budgets… If the numbers looked good, the condition of the hulls really wasn’t important.”
According to the report, Paredes said his manager ordered him to change the way he reports parts defects in an effort to reduce the overall number of problems. He claimed that when he protested the change, he was demoted and moved to another part of the factory.
“I felt threatened and retaliated against for raising concerns,” he said. As a result, Paredes said he filed an “ethics complaint” against the company, reaching out to their human resources department and Spirit’s then-CEO, Tom Gentile. He said he told co-workers in his email that he had “lost faith in the quality organization here at Spirit and this is my last cry for help.”
Paredes claimed his appeal was upheld in part, resulting in him being reinstated to his former role and receiving back pay. However, he eventually decided to leave the company, noting that he was hesitant to fly any Boeing 737 Max aircraft, due to the chance that they contained parts from the Wichita Spirit AeroSystems plant.
He said, “I never met many people who were afraid of flying until I worked at Spirit,” adding, “And then when I was at Spirit, I met a lot of people who were afraid of flying – because they saw how they built troops .”
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