Boeing said Friday that it had hit several internal targets on safety and quality control despite a series of embarrassing and catastrophic incidents that has seen its share price plunge and airlines around the world pull some of its planes.

The company said in a news release that it had made improvements “in multiple areas including safety culture, training, simplifying their processes, and eliminating defects.”

The announcement comes less than a week after the latest deadly incident involving one of its aircraft. In the worst air crash in South Korean history, 179 people were killed when a Boeing 737-800 belly-landed and skidded off the runway at the Muan International Airport.

Even so, in a section titled ‘Elevating Safety & Quality Culture’, Boeing said it has “addressed over 70% of action items in commercial airplanes production based on employee feedback” and implemented key criteria “across Final Assembly for the 737, 787 and portions of 767 and 777” to “mitigate risk.”

It has nonetheless been a difficult year for the company that — along with Europe’s Airbus — exercises a virtual duopoly over the airline market. In early 2024, a crucial fuselage panel blew out of an Alaska Airlines jet, its largest union stopped producing airplanes, and problems with its Starliner space capsule left two astronauts stranded in orbit.

These incidents came after several fatal crashes involving Boeing jets in recent years, including Boeing planes operated by Indonesia’s Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines that led to the various aviation authorities issuing grounding orders against specific Boeing jets.

All of that has combined to strip almost a third of the value off its share price since the end of 2023. 

During Boeing’s difficult 2024, whistleblowers from within the company came forward with complaints about shambolic internal processes in the production of its 737 and 787 aircraft.

One of those whistleblowers, John Barnett, was found to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, aged 62. After his death, his family said his attempts to highlight serious concerns were met with “a culture of concealment” that valued “profits over safety.”

Since then, the company has changed CEOs with new chief executive Robert “Kelly” Ortberg undertaking a massive turnaround plan since he was installed in August. In a letter to employees in October, he stressed the need for a “fundamental culture change,” going further than his recent predecessors in acknowledging the damage to Boeing’s reputation.

“This is a big ship that will take some time to turn, but when it does, it has the capacity to be great again,” Ortberg said in the letter, according to Reuters.

But just two months later in October, the Federal Aviation Authority said it was opening a three-month review of Boeing’s compliance with safety regulations as part of its intensified scrutiny of the company’s operations.

Asked by NBC News’ Lester Holt whether Boeing was too big to fail, FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker said last month that Boeing had failed “and they’re going through a pretty substantial reset. They have the resources to do this reset and to rebuild in a much higher quality and safer manner.”

But Boeing’s news release highlights the company’s investment in workforce training, with  “strengthened training for mechanics and quality inspectors with an enhanced support system,” as well as adding “hundreds of hours of new curriculum to training programs” that include “quality proficiency” and “Positive Safety Culture.”

In addition, Boeing said that it is trying to simplify its processes, specifically highlighting the installation plans of its 737 production line, as well as “eliminating defects.” 

The 737 aircraft was mentioned when the company said its operation with Spirit Aerosystems had “significantly reduced defects” in assembling the planes’ fuselages by increasing inspection points. Boeing said it had also “fully implemented” new procedures around the final assembly of its 737 and 787 aircrafts that tracks and secures parts “to prevent loss or improper use.”

The timing of Boeing’s statement will not be lost on many in the aerospace industry. The release itself notes both the 53-day strike as well as the Alaska Air incident that kicked off the company’s awful year. 

Sunday marks the one-year anniversary of the near-catastrophe aboard Alaska Airlines flight 1282 and the company will likely be keen to show its progress in the year since.

Arizona’s two newest U.S. House members are set to get sworn into their posts as the 119th Congress gets underway.

Republican Abe Hamadeh, a lawyer, and Democrat Yassamin Ansari, a former Phoenix vice mayor, are expected to take their oaths of office on Friday, shortly after the House resumes session.

Hamadeh will replace Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., who is retiring from Congress to serve on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. 

He will represent Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, an overwhelmingly Republican area that covers parts of Maricopa and Yavapai counties, including Glendale, Peoria, Sun City West and New River.

Propelled by an endorsement from President-elect Donald Trump, Hamadeh defeated a crowded field of other Republicans in Arizona’s July 30 primary election and sailed to an easy victory in the Nov. 5 general election.

Hamadeh, a self-described “America First warrior,” largely echoed Trump’s positions on the campaign trail. He will serve on the House Veterans Affairs Committee and the Armed Services Committee.

Ansari will represent Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District, a stretch of Maricopa County that includes parts of Phoenix and Glendale. She is replacing Democrat Ruben Gallego, who has swapped his House seat for a U.S. Senate seat. Her House committee assignments have not been announced.

During the primary election, Ansari hewed closer to the political center than her opponent, former state Sen. Raquel Terán of Phoenix. Ansari ran on a progressive platform but staked out more centrist turf on issues like policing and U.S. foreign policy toward Israel.

She beat out Terán by just 39 votes, and, like Hamadeh, won her November election in a landslide.

Ansari plans to join the House’s Progressive Caucus, the Democrats’ most left-leaning faction on Capitol Hill.

California lawmakers are proposing steps to protect K-12 students and families from mass deportations — although the real value of those proposals may be symbolic.

A pair of bills in the Legislature — AB 49 and SB 48 — would keep federal agents from detaining undocumented students or their families on or near school property without a warrant. The bills are a response to President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to deport undocumented immigrants, a move which could have major consequences for schools in California, which funds its schools based on attendance and where 12% of students have at least one undocumented parent.

Both bills would make it harder and more time-consuming for agents to enter schools or day care centers. But they can only delay, not stop, arrests. 

“In no way can these bills override federal law,” said Kevin Johnson, a law professor at UC Davis. “But the bills respond to a great concern in the community that it’s not safe to take your children to school. … I can’t emphasize enough how important this is, how vulnerable undocumented immigrants feel right now.”

AB 49, proposed by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, a Democrat from Torrance, would require immigration agents to obtain written permission from the superintendent before coming onto school property. It also bars agents from being in rooms where children are present. SB 48, introduced by Sen. Lena Gonzalez, a Democrat from Long Beach, would prohibit local police from cooperating with federal agents — such as assisting in arrests or providing information about families’ immigration status — within one mile of a school. It also bars schools from sharing student and family information with federal authorities. 

School districts have also doubled down on their efforts to protect students and families. Los Angeles Unified has partnered with legal aid organizations to assist families and instructed schools not to ask students about their immigration status. San Francisco Unified has similar policies.

“(San Francisco Unified) is a safe haven for all students regardless of citizenship status,” Superintendent Maria Su wrote to the community after the November election. “SFUSD restates our position that all students have the right to attend school regardless of their immigration status or that of their family members.”

Schools as safe havens

Schools have long been safe havens for immigrant students. Under a 1982 Supreme Court ruling, public schools must enroll all students regardless of their immigration status and can’t charge tuition to students who aren’t legal residents. And since 2011, federal guidelines discourage agents from making immigration arrests at schools, hospitals, churches, courthouses and other “sensitive locations.”

But Trump said he plans to eliminate the “sensitive locations” guidelines, and the conservative Heritage Foundation, which published the right-leaning Project 2025 manifesto, is encouraging states to charge tuition to undocumented K-12 students. That could set up the possible overturn of the Supreme Court decision guaranteeing access to school for undocumented students. The foundation’s rationale is that government agencies such as schools are already overburdened and need to prioritize services for U.S. citizens.

“The (Biden) administration’s new version of America is nothing more than an open-border welfare state,” Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, wrote. “No country can sustain or survive such a vision.”

Muratsuchi, chair of the Assembly Education Committee, said he was inspired to author AB 49 just after the election, when he listened to the concerns of immigrant students in the political science class he teaches at El Camino Community College in Torrance. 

“It became clear there was more and more fear among my students, not only for themselves but for their families. The fear of families being torn apart is very real,” Muratuschi said. “We want to send a strong message to our immigrant students that we’re going to do everything we can to protect them.”

‘Too scared to speak up’

For most undocumented families, deportation would mean a plunging into poverty and in many cases, violence. Nahomi, a high school senior in Fresno County whom CalMatters is identifying by her middle name because of her immigration status, described the threat of deportation as “a major worry for my family and I. Our lives could change completely in a blink of an eye.”

Nahomi and her parents arrived in California in 2011 from the city of Culiacan in Sinaloa, Mexico, an area plagued by widespread violence. They initially planned to stay until Sinaloa became safer, but once they settled in the Central Valley they decided the risks of returning outweighed the risk of deportation, so they stayed. Nahomi’s father works in construction and her mother is a homemaker, raising Nahomi and her younger sister.

While she and her family fear deportation, Nahomi is not afraid to attend school. She said schools can help families know their rights and help children feel safe.

“I feel very welcomed and safe there,” she said. “It is a very diverse high school and I just feel like any other student. … (But) a lot of these families are probably too scared to speak up about doubts they might have.”

Politically unpopular?

Patricia Gándara, an education professor and co-director of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, said the risk of federal agents arresting students at schools is probably small. It’s unclear how many children in K-12 schools are undocumented, but it’s probably a relatively small number, she said. In any case, immigration enforcement that affects children almost always sparks public outcry from both parties, she said. 

“Some people might say they’re anti-immigrant, but it’s another thing entirely when the family up the street, whom they’ve known for 20 years, suddenly gets deported, or your kid’s best friend gets deported,” said Gandara, who’s studied the topic extensively. “It’s politically very unpopular.”

Still, the proposed bills could send a powerful message that schools are safe places, she said. Immigration crackdowns can have a significant impact on student attendance, a Stanford study found, which can lead to less funding for schools, particularly low-income schools that enroll large numbers of immigrant children. 

Immigration crackdowns can also lead to an increase in bullying, anxiety and general uncertainty on campus, not just for immigrant children but for everyone, Gándara said. Teachers, in particular, experience high levels of stress when their students’ safety is endangered, she said. 

Schools can’t rely solely on state laws to protect immigrant families, though. They should partner with local nonprofits to provide legal services and other support to families who need assistance. 

“Schools are one of the last places immigrant families feel safe,” Gandara said. “But as soon as (federal agents) move into schools, they’re not so safe any more. These bills say, ‘We’re not going to sit back and let this happen. Not all of government is against you.”

California ‘one of the best places to be’

Both bills are awaiting hearings in the Legislature. Tammy Lin, supervising attorney with the University of San Diego Immigration Clinic, expects California to continue to take steps to protect undocumented families, but political conflicts will be inevitable.

The incoming Trump administration is likely to battle California and other left-leaning states over immigration matters. Even within California, conflicts are likely to erupt between state leaders and those in more conservative regions, or even between agencies in the same area. In San Diego County, for example, the Board of Supervisors ordered the sheriff’s office to not notify federal immigration officers when it releases suspected undocumented inmates from jail, but the sheriff refused to comply. 

Lin also said she wouldn’t be surprised if there’s an attempt to overturn the Supreme Court ruling guaranteeing education to undocumented children, potentially paving the way for other immigrants’ rights to be reversed. 

“It’s a slippery slope,” Lin said. “Immigrants know this, which is why there’s immense fear and uncertainty right now. But bills like these show that California is still one of the best places you can be.”

Suriyah Jones, a member of the CalMatters Youth Journalism Initiative, contributed to this story.