WASHINGTON — Boeing retaliated against two employees who were likely involved in removing the panel that flew off Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, the top U.S. aviation safety regulator said on Wednesday.

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy told Boeing its decision to move two employees from the door crew at the company’s Renton plant to another facility in Everett is a form of retaliation, despite the company’s assertions that it has a policy prohibiting retaliation and that it will not take disciplinary action for unintentional mistakes. Those two workers are now on administrative leave.

There is no evidence that the front-line workers’ mistakes leading up to the Jan. 5 panel blowout aboard an Alaska Airlines flight out of Portland were intentional, Homendy said.

“What sort of impression does that give your employees that you sideline them?” Homendy asked Boeing during a contentious hearing before the NTSB board. “It’s very clear they have been told they will not return, if at all, until this investigation is over. Have you communicated why that is?”

Homendy was speaking to Boeing quality managers Wednesday on the second day of a 48-hour investigative hearing into the Alaska Airlines panel blowout. The hearing examined what went wrong in the production of that plane, as well as Boeing’s policies for assuring quality and safety in its factories.

Workplace retaliation came up several times, following accusations similar to those that Boeing has faced for years.

Whistleblowers have long accused the company of retaliating against employees, including those who came forward following two fatal 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019. Since the Jan. 5 panel blowout, more whistleblowers have come forward, alleging safety concerns with how Boeing planes are manufactured and how the company handles employees who bring attention to apparent problems. The Federal Aviation Administration said it has seen an “increased” use of its hotline for whistleblowers from Boeing employees, as well as workers from Boeing’s largest supplier, Spirit AeroSystems.

The NTSB found in interviews with workers that employees were afraid to raise safety concerns out of fear the company would reassign them. One of the door crew employees who was switched described their new role in the Everett factory as a “cage” and “Boeing prison.”

Boeing has taken action in the months since the panel blowout to improve channels for employees to report safety concerns, including updating its anti-retaliation policy in response to feedback from employees, said Paul Wright, Boeing’s senior director for safety management systems, during Wednesday’s hearing.

Boeing has received “well over” 2,000 reports so far this year in its “Speak Up” system, a new anonymous channel to file concerns, he continued.

“What we want to see is employees reporting good- faith mistakes without reprisal,” Wright said. “It all comes down to employees feeling safe to report.”

Wright said Boeing now collects more information about the type of hazard and where it occurred in its “Speak Up” system in an effort to respond more quickly to concerns.

The International Association of Machinists, which represents more than 33,000 Boeing workers, was not immediately familiar with the updated anti-retaliation policy.

Lloyd Catlin, who is representing IAM at the hearing, told NTSB investigators that Boeing’s changes to its safety and quality system all sound very good but “it’s not what it appears to be here in this meeting.”

The “Speak Up” system allows workers to remain anonymous but Catlin said some workers are concerned that they will still be identified. Catlin said he’s heard some positive outcomes of “Speak Up” reports, but said he’s also been stonewalled by Boeing through the system in the past.

Jon Holden, president of IAM District 751, which represents machinists based in the Puget Sound region and Portland, said Wednesday that Boeing is working on a similar anonymous reporting system, like “Speak Up,” for its engineering workforce. Those workers are represented by SPEEA, or Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace.

Asked about the program Wednesday, Boeing’s Wright said he did not have an update.

NTSB Chair Homendy said at the hearing the agency plans to conduct a “safety culture survey” of Boeing’s Renton employees. She asked for a commitment from the company to “work with us and carry out the survey without interference.”

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