Shake-up might not fix all of Boeing’s troubles
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun is set to step down by the end of the year, and he’s not the only one. Other top executives are leaving the company as questions of safety mar its reputation after an Alaska Airlines 737 Max lost a door plug midflight in January.
Experts said travelers first need to know that Boeing planes largely remain safe, but only time will tell if the company’s C-suite shakeup results in real, positive change.
“It’s a headline change. I’m not sure it makes a difference on the factory floor, and that’s really where the value or the damage is created,” Robert W. Mann, Jr., a former airline executive officer and current president of R. W. Mann and Company, an independent airline consultancy, told USA TODAY. “It’s changing the motivation structure, which has favored rate of production over absolute quality. At the same time, they’re pushing to increase production rates. They have to demonstrate they can produce quality before they can think about producing at higher rates. If this change contributes to that, wonderful; if it doesn’t, they are where they are, and they’re going to be there for a long time.”
But that kind of culture change can be hard to implement in a company as sprawling as Boeing.
“A new CEO will feel vulnerable. They will want to show that they can implement quick fixes; they’ll want to show immediate results. The problem is not going to be fixed by quick fixes,” said Ashley Fulmer, an assistant professor of management at the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University. Fulmer’s research focuses on trust in business, and she said Boeing’s new CEO will have a long way to go to restore the company’s reputation.
“The issue for the public, especially, is that it’s kind of a show for accountability, but the question now we’re asking is: Who is really responsible?” Fulmer said.
“It’s a headline change. I’m not sure it makes a difference on the factory floor, and that’s really where the value or the damage is created.”
Robert W. Mann Jr. former airline executive officer
“We need to see more tangible evidence of accountability.”
For Robert Clifford, senior partner at Clifford Law in Chicago, changes at Boeing couldn’t happen soon enough.
Clifford represents the families of victims of the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019 in their litigation against Boeing. He said that he and his clients are gratified to see executives held accountable but that more changes are needed at the manufacturer.
“The families from the Max 8 disasters have been calling for a cleaning of the house of the C-suite for some time. It’s finally coming. It’s here,” he said. “This is not a day to rejoice; this is a day for a reckoning of what should have occurred long ago.”
Experts agreed Boeing needs to return to its roots as an engineering-first company that prioritizes the quality of its products over shareholder returns.
“You can be a good company without having just focus on the bottom line. They’re not mutually exclusive concepts,” Clifford said.
Mann added that Stephanie Pope’s appointment to lead Boeing’s Commercial Airplane division is curious and likely to come under scrutiny because she does not have an engineering background. “If there’s a consistent complaint at this point, whether it’s commercial or space or any other aspect of (Boeing’s) business, it’s that they don’t have the engineering people to oversee (production),” he said. “It’ll be a long time before anything really changes.”
The leadership change comes as a Justice Department criminal investigation into Boeing is seemingly expanding. Passengers on the Alaska Airlines flight reportedly received letters from the FBI last week alerting them that they may be victims of a crime.
Clifford said that he has seen copies of the letter and it contained few details about the exact nature or scope of the investigation but that it was still an encouraging sign the government is taking Boeing’s problems seriously.
Mann emphasized that even as Boeing remains under intense scrutiny and upheaval at the top, travelers should be assured its planes are safe.
“I personally have the view that there are professionals there that want to do the right thing. That’s what keeps the industry as safe as it has become,” he said. “I have faith in airplanes and faith in the people operating them.”
Clifford, the representative for Boeing crash victims, agreed its planes are safe but said he hopes the latest incidents create further incentive to improve the quality and oversight of its production lines.
“The Max 8 right now might be the safest plane in the sky because of the preventable deaths that occurred,” he said. “There will be a renewed focus, hopefully, on quality engineering at Boeing.”