Pete Buttigieg Defends Air Travel, Says FAA Holding Boeing to High Standard

Pete Buttigieg knows Americans have travel on the brain heading into the holiday weekend, and for those concerned about Boeing's issues, he says the government's holding the company to a very high standard.

The Secretary of Transportation was on "TMZ Live" Thursday to talk about the series of technical issues plaguing the aircraft manufacturing giant in recent months, and, as a result, he says Boeing is under heavy government scrutiny.

Secretary Buttigieg says the Federal Aviation Administration's forcing Boeing to prove it can make planes safely before it's allowed to expand production on the Boeing 737 MAX ... seemingly a big condemnation of the company's recent products.

However, he adds the FAA's got super high standards for all manufacturers ... testing to ensure there's no more than a billion-to-one chance something will go wrong.

Buttigieg points to the stats ... saying the aviation industry's experienced an unprecedented safety record in recent years, so people shouldn't stop flying.

That said, Pete says there won't be a return to business as usual for Boeing, and watch until the end of the clip -- he says he's willing to take extreme measures if necessary.

Like we've told you ... Boeing's planes have dealt with numerous issues in recent months from wheels and landing gear problems to a door plug coming off mid-flight.

Most recently, turbulence hit a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 -- leading to the death of one person during a 6,000-foot drop. The plane had to make an emergency landing in Thailand.

Multiple whistleblowers have come forward to call out Boeing for allegedly firing quality managers who raised concerns about the company's airplanes.