‘Trying to squeeze every piece of profit': When US Senator grilled Boeing's Ex-CEO over safety and quality checks
Air India Crash: On June 12, Air India's Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed into BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad, killing 241 onboard and 29 on the ground, including students and faculty. Following this tragic instance, an old video from the last year has resurfaced, showing US Senator Josh Hawley grilling former Boeing CEO David Calhoun over completion of required inspection records for the 787 and whether its employees falsified it, further slamming the company's safety and quality checks.
"You're eliminating safety procedures, you're sticking it your employees, you're cutting back jobs, you're trying to squeeze every piece of profit you can out of this company...You're strip mining Boeing...for profit, shareholder value and you're rewarded for it. You got a huge raise, you increase, so it's working out great for you," Hawley scolded Calhoun.
"Don't you think your priorities are misplaced here?" Hawley asked the Boeing CEO and said the whistleblowers are "literally fearing for their lives".
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in an email, the issue revolved around whether Boeing performed the necessary inspections to 'confirm adequate bonding and grounding where the wings join the fuselage on certain 787 Dreamliner airplanes", an AFP report said.
Scott Stocker, head of the Boeing 787 programme, in an email to staff, had stated, 'We quickly reviewed the matter and learned that several people had been violating company policies by not performing a required test, but recording the work as having been completed. We promptly informed our regulator about what we learned and are taking swift and serious corrective action with multiple teammates."
He added that engineering staff assessed that the issues does not pose an immediate safety of flight risk, AFP had reported.
Calhoun got $32.8 million in total compensation in 2023, a 45 percent rise as compared to $22.6 million in the previous year. When he was asked, "Frankly, sir, I think it's a travesty that you are still in your job. Why haven't you resigned?" Calhoun responded, ""I'm sticking this through. I'm proud of having taken the job. I'm proud of our safety record. And I am very proud of our Boeing people."
In October 2018, all 189 people aboard a Lion Air flight died when the plane crashed into the Java Sea just 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia. A few months later, in March 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed six minutes after departing from Addis Ababa, killing all 157 on board. Both crashes were linked to faulty flight control systems. "I apologise for the grief that we have caused," Calhoun said.
Calhoun was appointed the CEO of Boeing in January 2020, and the company announced Kelly Ortberg as new CEO from August 8, 2024.
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