Boeing gaining ground in ‘war against defects’ at 737 jet plant

The clattering of tools halts for an hour as mechanics stop building narrowbody jets lined up nose-to-tail and break into small work groups to talk through their on-the-job impediments and irritants. The discussions often center on persistent headaches, like a hole repeatedly drilled in the wrong location by a key supplier, Boeing employees said. With the second anniversary approaching of the Alaska Air Group Inc. midair near-calamity that plunged Boeing into crisis, the planemaker is reinforcing the safet ...