Boeing’s chief executive Dave Calhoun faced a grilling from US senators about the company’s culture as family members of Boeing crash victims shouted at him throughout the hearing.
Mr Calhoun testified on Tuesday to Congress that the company had “learned” from past mistakes and that the process for employee whistleblowers “works” – but lawmakers still accused him of not doing enough to rectify a culture of retaliation.
The US company most recently was put in the spotlight when a door panel fell off a new 737 Max plane during an Alaska Airlines flight in January, leaving a gaping hole.
As part of an ongoing investigation, Boeing whistleblowers told the Senate in April that the 737 Max, the 787 Dreamliner and the 777 models had serious production issues.
Mr Calhoun, who became CEO in 2020 and plans to leave later this year, told the Senate sub-committee that some problems come from an “untrained workforce”.
He blamed the layoffs and worker turnover that plagued the industry after Covid, saying they contributed to manufacturing issues at the company.
“So much of this is related to an untrained workforce. It’s all about that, honestly,” he said.
The company faced intense criticism five years ago, after two 737 Max aircraft were lost in separate, but almost identical accidents, killing 346 people.
Several family members of victims who died in those crashes attended the hearing, holding up pictures of loved ones. They spoke outside in a news conference beforehand.
“I flew from England to Washington DC to hear in person what the Boeing CEO has to say to the Senate and to the world about any safety improvements made at that corporation,” said Zipporah Kuria, whose father was killed in the 2019 crash of a Boeing 737 MAX 8 jet.
“I also continue to press the US government to hold Boeing and its corporate executives criminally responsible for the deaths of 346 people. We will not rest until we see justice.”
Clariss Moore, whose daughter died in a Boeing crash in Ethiopia in 2019, confronted Mr Calhoun, asking him during the hearing about “my daughter’s last breath on the plane”.
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