In the Boeing door blowout case, whistleblower and former Spirit AeroSystems employee Santiago Paredes stated that the fuselages made by the major supplier of top aircraft manufacturers had frequent and significant faults.
Santiago Paredes was given the nickname “showstopper” for slowing down production when he expressed his concerns
Paredes, a former quality inspector, told the BBC that he discovered nearly 200 faults on parts that were being prepared to be shipped to Boeing.Â
Paredes claimed he was given the nickname “showstopper” for slowing down production when he expressed his concerns.
According to Paredes, some of the problems he discovered while working at Spirit were minor, while others were more serious.
He added that he faced pressure because he raised issues and was asked to be less rigorous. “They always made a fuss about why I was finding it, why I was looking at it. I was finding a lot of missing fasteners, a lot of bent parts, sometimes even missing parts,” the whistleblower said.
“They just wanted the product shipped out. They weren’t focused on the consequences of shipping bad fuselages. They were just focused on meeting the quotas, meeting the schedule, meeting the budget… If the numbers looked good, the state of the fuselages didn’t really matter,” Paredes alleged.
Meanwhile, when asked about uncovering defects, Paredes told CBS News, “If quality mattered, I would still be at Spirit. It was very rare for us to look at a job and not find any defects.”
“Why’d that happen? Because Spirit let go of a defect that they overlooked because of the pressure that they put on the inspectors. If the culture was good, those issues would be addressed, but the culture is not good,” he added.Â
Spirit AeroSystems strongly disagreed with the allegations
Spirit, reacting to the whistleblower’s allegations, said that it “strongly disagree[d]” with them.
“We are vigorously defending against his claims,” said a Spirit’s spokesperson.
Spirit spokesman Joe Buccino added, “We encourage all Spirit employees with concerns to come forward, safe in knowing they will be protected. We remain committed to addressing concerns and continuously improving workplace safety standards.”
