Boeing employees to undergo quality control training amid 737-9 MAX issues

This comes after Boeing grounded its 737-9 MAX aircraft after a panel had blown out midair during an Alaska Airlines flight on Jan. 5.

The company released a statement on the matter and said employees in Renton, Washington will engage in the first "quality stand down" on Thursday, followed by employees at additional factories over the course of the next two weeks, according to Business Insider.

Stan Deal, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in the statement: "During the stand downs, teammates will participate in hands-on learning, reflection, and collaboration to identify where quality and compliance can be improved and create actionable plans that will be tracked to closure."

Other actions taken by Boeing include inviting airlines to tour its plants and examine its operating processes, reviewing Spirit AeroSystems, a supplier, and commissioning an independent evaluation headed by a retired admiral of the Navy.

On January 5, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 experienced uncontrollable decompression after a door plug broke off during the flight. All 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft equipped with a door plug have since been grounded.

The National Transportation Safety Board's investigators discovered that the door plug's four bolts were missing.

Michael Whitaker, CEO of the Federal Aviation Administration, told CNN that the investigation is focused on Boeing's quality-control process rather than the design of the aircraft door plug.

During post-grounding inspections, a number of the 737 Max 9 aircraft operated by both United Airlines and Alaska Airlines were discovered to have loose bolts.

Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci had strong words for Boeing and told NBC: "It makes you mad that we're finding issues like that on brand-new airplanes."