BTN News: During a key moment in a US Senate hearing, Boeing’s CEO Dave Calhoun staggered lawmakers by acknowledging that the aerospace giant had punished whistleblowers, flagrantly contradicting its public promises. The hearing, led by Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), looked into Boeing culture of safety following two catastrophic 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people and revealed serious breakdowns in Boeing’s corporate oversight and design processes.
Chairman Senator Blumenthal pressed Boeing executives about the need for a top to bottom change in company leadership. He pointed to accounts of more than a dozen whistleblowers who characterized the company as retaliatory toward employees who raised safety concerns.
A now-retired Boeing engineer of nearly 20 years experience, Sam Salehpour wrote that bad manufacturing processes threaten disaster and compared the situation to bending a paper clip over and over until it snaps.
Perhaps the most explosive revelation came from whistleblower Sam Mohawk, who claimed that Boeing taught their employees to hide inappropriately stored parts from federal aviation inspectors so as not to incur costs in expanding storage facilities.
Dave Calhoun’s Response and Criticisms: While giving his testimony, Dave Calhoun apologized to the families of the crash victims and cited an imperfect corporate culture at Boeing but clarifies efforts to bring about changes. But he faced heavy criticism from lawmakers including Sen. Josh Hawley, who said his lack of specificity on how many workers had been fired for punishing whistleblowers showed he lacks the accountability intended by the new law. In a startling indictment of Calhoun, Hawley accused Calhoun of putting profits ahead of safety and wondered at his stewardship given a hefty compensation package.
Calhoun, in turn, doubled down in defending his continued leadership and expressing a commitment to guiding the company through a chapter of reconstruction amid growing outside and internal pressure for his resignation.
Conclusion: The Senate hearing was a high point for Boeing and revealed the ongoing problems in its corporate culture and safety culture. But all the while as investigations push on and calls for accountability mount, Boeing is staring down immense pressure to put in place real changes that promote safety above all else.
