'We have planes all over the world that have issues that nobody has found' — union leader accused Boeing supplier of lack of quality control

• A union leader reportedly said a Boeing supplier pressured workers to get their jobs done fast.
• He added that this may be leading to issues with quality control.

A key Boeing supplier is under scrutiny in the wake of the Alaska Airlines blowout.

Spirit AeroSystems is a Kansas company that builds the fuselages and other parts of Boeing planes — including the door plug of 737 Max 9 jets involved in the Alaska Airlines blowout earlier this month.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced a formal investigation into Boeing on Thursday and is set to audit the 737 Max 9 production line and its suppliers.

Cornell Beard, the president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers chapter that represents workers at Spirit's Wichita factory, told The Wall Street Journal that problems with quality control could be caused by pressure on employees to work quickly.

"We have planes all over the world that have issues that nobody has found because of the pressure Spirit has put on employees to get the job done so fast," he said.

After the FAA grounded the 737 Max 9, Alaska Airlines and United Airlines found loose bolts during initial inspections.

When the door plug of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was recovered, investigators found four bolts were missing — and weren't sure they were ever installed. The National Transportation Safety Board is conducting further tests on the door to determine how it came loose.

Joshua Dean, a former Spirit quality auditor, told the Journal he was fired after flagging wrongly drilled holes in fuselages.

"It is known at Spirit that if you make too much noise and cause too much trouble, you will be moved," he said. "It doesn't mean you completely disregard stuff, but they don't want you to find everything and write it up."

Boeing announced Monday new measures to improve its quality-control system. That includes an additional layer of inspections through the build process at Boeing and Spirit's installation of the midexit door plug.

Spirit did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, sent outside US working hours.

In a statement last week, it said: "As a company, we remain focused on the quality of each aircraft structure that leaves our facilities."