After repeatedly raising concerns about safety issues in the manufacturing of 737 Max airplanes, Boeing whistleblower Ed Pierson retired from his management position and founded the airline safety advocacy organization The Foundation for Aviation Safety.
Pierson served as a Senior Manager at Boeing’s Renton, Washington 737 Max factory. He previously told WNN that starting in 2017 working conditions at the Renton factory began to deteriorate. Pierson says that workers were so tired that he saw a direct uptick in human error safety incidents.
In June of 2018, Pierson contacted the manager of the 737 program asking for a meeting and requesting that the factory be shut down for a period of time so that workers could get back on their feet. He presented his concerns in emails to the manager and in an in-person meeting, saying that he was extremely concerned that the pressure leadership was putting on employees could have the effect of “embedding safety hazard(s) into our airplanes.”
In August of 2018, Pierson left Boeing, citing inadequately answered safety concerns as a primary reason for leaving. In the ensuing months, two MAX airplanes crashed, killing hundreds.
In 2019, Pierson testified before the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. He stated that his warnings were ignored after he formally warned Boeing leadership of the risk of sending out 737 MAXs and claimed that Boeing was prioritizing production speed over quality and safety.
Frustrated by the lack of oversight by both Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Pierson founded The Foundation for Aviation Safety, which seeks to “improve aviation safety by exploring, investigating, and exposing significant issues that affect commercial aviation,” according to its website.
In 2024, Pierson continued his advocacy and whistleblowing at the National Whistleblower Day celebration on Capitol Hill, where he revealed that he had uncovered new documents underscoring Boeing’s alleged shortcomings in the manufacturing of 737 Max planes.
Whistleblower advocates are calling for increased protections for airline safety whistleblowers. National Whistleblower Center is urging Congress and the White House to act immediately and address the issues which are endangering airline safety whistleblowers and having a chilling effect on other would-be-whistleblowers.
