(Washington) Boeing boss Dave Calhoun recognized on Tuesday the “seriousness” of the situation regarding the quality of the manufacturer’s production, assuring before a US Senate investigative committee that progress had already been made .
Sitting behind him in the audience were relatives of victims of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019, who held up photos of their fallen.
At the beginning of his testimony, Mr. Calhoun stood up, turned around and apologized “on behalf of all Boeing employees around the world, past and present, for our losses.”
“I apologize for the grief we have caused, and I want you to know that we are fully committed, in their memory, to working and focusing on safety for as long” as necessary.
“Again, I’m sorry,” added the leader, before resuming his place in front of the senators.
“Our culture is far from perfect, but we are taking steps and making progress,” Calhoun said.
“We understand the severity, and we are committed to moving forward with transparency and accountability, while increasing employee investment.”
It was the first time Mr. Calhoun had been questioned publicly by officials since the Jan. 5 incident, when a 737 MAX 9 delivered in October to Alaska Airlines lost a door in flight that blocked a redundant emergency exit.
“It’s a manufacturing defect. It created a dangerous aircraft,” Mr. Calhoun admitted.
According to the American Transportation Safety Agency (NTSB), several fastening bolts had not been put back in place after an intervention on the assembly line.
For many months, Boeing has been experiencing production and quality problems with its commercial aircraft (737 MAX, 787 Dreamliner and 777).
“It’s a culture that continues to prioritize profits, push the limits and ignore its employees,” denounced Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, chairman of the commission of inquiry. The promises made by Boeing after the crashes –– which killed 346 people – were nothing more than “empty shells”.
Speaking directly to Mr. Calhoun, he blamed him for “eroding safety culture” for “taking care of (his) shareholders.”
Mr Calhoun was appointed chief executive in early 2020 – he had been a director since 2009 – to turn around the group. But production failures precipitated his retirement by the end of 2024.
Several audits and investigations have identified numerous “non-compliance” issues and deficiencies, particularly in quality control.
This commission of inquiry has already heard, in mid-April, four whistleblowers. She published new elements reported by other whistleblowers on Tuesday.
At the end of May, Boeing submitted a “comprehensive action plan”, required by the aviation regulator (FAA), to remedy these problems.
The stakes are high, as the group is threatened with criminal charges in federal court in Texas.
According to the US Department of Justice, Boeing “failed to comply with its obligations” under a so-called deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) linked to these accidents, concluded on January 7, 2021 with a three-year monitoring period. .
Accused of fraud in the 737 MAX certification process, Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion and committed, among other things, to strengthening its compliance program.
The aircraft manufacturer claims to have complied with the agreement. The ministry must decide before July 7 whether to proceed.
Mr. Blumenthal, a former federal prosecutor, said Tuesday that there was “overwhelming evidence” to launch a prosecution. “There should be individual accountability,” he added.
“I believe strongly in the need for accountability,” Calhoun said.
“If there is no risk of imprisonment for these leaders who are playing with our lives, then nothing will change,” Adnaan Stumo, who lost his sister Samya Rose in the plane crash, told AFP. March 10, 2019 in Ethiopia.
Dave Calhoun “was closely involved in all of these decisions. Dave Calhoun is part of the problem,” said their mother, Nadia Milleron, alongside him, describing as “scandalous” the fact that the boss denies himself several times by saying he only arrived in 2020.
“Criminals should be in prison,” added Clariss Moore, mother of 24-year-old Danielle.
