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Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun is scheduled to testify Tuesday at a Senate hearing on the aircraft maker’s safety concerns.
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Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun plans to apologize for Boeing’s recent safety lapses in Senate testimony Tuesday and admit to problems with company culture, but he will push back on claims from whistleblowers that the company retaliated against those who exposed security issues.
“There’s been a lot of talk about Boeing’s culture. We heard these concerns loud and clear,” he said in a speech prepared and released by Boeing on Monday afternoon. “Our culture is far from perfect, but we are taking action and making progress. We understand the gravity and we are determined to move forward.
The comment “far from perfect” is an understatement. Boeing has come under scrutiny in numerous federal investigations and congressional hearings since a Jan. 5 flight of Alaska Air’s Boeing 737 Max saw a door plug explode, leaving a hole gaping in the plane and in Boeing’s reputation.
Boeing has been ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration to improve its safety measures before it can resume normal production, causing problems for airlines that cannot get the planes they have ordered. And that, in turn, translated into higher fares for passengers, whose confidence in the company’s planes was severely tested.
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Boeing 737 Max planes are pictured outside a Boeing factory in Renton, Washington.
Tuesday’s hearing by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations is titled “Boeing’s Broken Safety Culture.” It’s just the latest congressional hearing this year on safety issues at Boeing, but the first time Calhoun has testified in more than four years leading the troubled company. He will be accompanied by Howard McKenzie, Boeing’s chief engineer.
At an April 17 hearing, Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour testified that Boeing was producing defective planes because he and others who complained were being pressured not to.
“I have serious concerns about the safety of the 787 and 777 aircraft, and I am willing to take professional risks to speak out about them,” Salehpour said in his opening statement. He said when he raised his concerns: “I was ignored. I was told not to create delays. Honestly, I was told to shut up.
Calhoun denies that this is currently the case at Boeing in his prepared remarks.
“We are committed to ensuring that every employee feels empowered to speak up if they have a problem,” he will say, according to prepared remarks. “We also have strict policies in place to prohibit retaliation against employees who come forward. It is our duty to listen, however we obtain the feedback, and treat it with the seriousness it deserves.
Despite the attention the hearing is expected to generate, it is unlikely to lead to significant changes within the company, said Richard Aboulafia, managing partner of AeroDynamic Consultancy, a aerospace consulting company.
“Nothing has produced change (at Boeing) other than the frustration of a group of airline customers,” Aboulafia said. “I’m not sure what will change as a result. He (Calhoun) has to go. He has shown a strong desire to redouble his efforts on what is going wrong. »
A preliminary investigation into the Alaska Air incident found that the plane left the Boeing factory two months before the incident without the four bolts needed to hold the door plug in place.
And Boeing has yet to produce the documents to identify who in the factory installed the door plug without the bolts. It has been harshly criticized by members of Congress and safety regulators and will likely face further criticism on Tuesday.
Calhoun has already met with members of Congress since the Alaska Air incident, albeit behind closed doors. He has also made numerous public statements to Boeing employees and investors since the Alaska Air incident.
“We caused the problem and we understand that,” he told investors in a January call after reporting his fifth consecutive annual loss. “Whatever the conclusions (of the investigations), Boeing is responsible for what happened. Regardless of the precise cause of the accident, an event like this simply must not happen on an aircraft leaving one of our factories. We just have to be better.
Calhoun’s prepared remarks begin with an apology to the family members of the victims of the two fatal 737 Max crashes. Some of those family members plan to attend the hearing. Between them, 346 people were killed in the 2018 and 2019 crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, leading to the plane being grounded for 20 months to correct a design flaw that caused the crashes.
“We are deeply sorry for your losses,” he will say in his opening speech. “Nothing is more important than the safety of the people who board our planes. Every day, we seek to honor the memory of those who have passed away.
He also plans to apologize again to the passengers and crew of the Alaska Air flight in January.
“We deeply regret the impact that the accident of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 had on the Alaska Airlines team and its passengers, and we are grateful to the pilots and crew for landing the plane safely,” he said. “We are grateful that there were no deaths.”
But experts say it was pure luck that no one was killed in the Alaska Air incident.
This could very well be the only time Calhoun testifies at the Capitol. He has announced his intention to retire before the end of this year. His successor has not yet been chosen.
Beyond Tuesday’s hearing and the numerous federal investigations it faces, the company could still face criminal liability stemming from the 737 Max’s initial certification process. In January 2021, Boeing agreed to a trial period, which postponed any prosecution on these charges and which would have exonerated him from any criminal liability in the accidents.
But the Jan. 5 incident aboard the Alaska Air flight occurred just days before the probationary period ended. In May, the Justice Department informed Boeing that it was now facing criminal charges. Boeing has denied that the Alaska Air incident violated the deferred prosecution agreement and is contesting any potential criminal liability in court. Family members who plan to attend Tuesday’s hearing say they want Boeing to be criminally prosecuted.