“Our Culture Is Far From Perfect”: Boeing CEO Says In Prepared Remarks Ahead Of Senate Hearing

On Tuesday afternoon, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will testify before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), about the ongoing investigations into Boeing’s quality oversight and production failures of commercial jets.

“Our culture is far from perfect, but we are taking action and making progress,” Calhoun said in his prepared remarks released by Boeing and reported by the Washington Post.

Calhoun said, “We understand the gravity, and we are committed to moving forward with transparency and accountability, while elevating employee engagement.” 

The top executive’s “far from perfect” comment understates the severity of the continued Boeing investigations by the Justice Department, Federal Aviation Administration, and other federal agencies since the early January door plug incident on an Alaska Air Boeing 737 Max flight. The exec is also expected to apologize to the family members of the victims who died in the two 737 Max crashes.

“We are deeply sorry for your losses,” he’s expected to say in opening comments, adding, “Nothing is more important than the safety of the people who step on board our airplanes. Every day we seek to honor the memory of those lost.”

And he plans to apologize to the passengers and crew of the Alaska Air flight: 

“We deeply regret the impact that the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident had on Alaska Airlines’ team and its passengers, and we are grateful to the pilots and crew for safely landing the plane. We are thankful that there were no fatalities.”

In recent months, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered Boeing to improve safety and quality before it could resume normal production, sparking plane delivery delays for major airlines, including Southwest, which had to downgrade its financial outlook for the year due to the delays.

Today’s hearing will focus on Boeing’s broken safety culture, two months after whistleblower Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour’s testimony about defective planes to the same subcommittee.

“I have serious concerns about the safety of the 787 and 777 aircraft, and I’m willing to take on professional risk to talk about them,” Salehpour said in his opening statement on April 17, adding,  “I was ignored. I was told not to create delays. I was told, frankly, to shut up.”

Ahead of the hearing, Blumenthal wrote in a statement:

“I look forward to Mr. Calhoun’s testimony, which is a necessary step in meaningfully addressing Boeing’s failures, regaining public trust, and restoring the company’s central role in the American economy and national defense.” 

In markets, Boeing shares are marginally lower in premarket trading in New York. Year-to-date, shares are down nearly 32% on the endless jet problems. 

The executives at Boeing have destroyed one of the world’s greatest aviation brands as competitor Airbus flies ahead.