F.A.A. Gives Boeing 90 Days to Develop Plan to Address Quality-Control Issues

The Federal Aviation Administration said on Wednesday that it had asked Boeing to provide the agency with a “comprehensive action plan” to address quality-control issues within 90 days, the regulator’s latest push for safety improvements after a panel came off a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet in flight in early January.

The F.A.A. administrator, Mike Whitaker, made the request on Tuesday when he met with Boeing’s chief executive, Dave Calhoun, and other company officials for what the agency described as an “all-day safety discussion.”

“Boeing must commit to real and profound improvements,” Mr. Whitaker said in a statement. “Making foundational change will require a sustained effort from Boeing’s leadership, and we are going to hold them accountable every step of the way, with mutually understood milestones and expectations.”

In a statement, Mr. Calhoun said the plane maker had “a clear picture of what needs to be done.”

“Boeing will develop the comprehensive action plan with measurable criteria that demonstrates the profound change that Administrator Whitaker and the F.A.A. demand,” Mr. Calhoun said. “Our Boeing leadership team is totally committed to meeting this challenge.”

The meeting on Tuesday, which took place at the F.A.A.’s headquarters in Washington, came two weeks after Mr. Whitaker toured Boeing’s 737 plant in Renton, Wash. During his visit, Mr. Whitaker spoke with Boeing engineers and mechanics to try to get a better sense of the safety culture at the factory. The F.A.A. said after his visit that Mr. Whitaker planned to discuss what he saw during his visit when he met with Boeing executives in Washington.

On Monday, the F.A.A. released a report by a panel of experts that found that Boeing’s safety culture remained flawed,