Boeing boss expected before a US Senate committee

(New York) Boeing boss Dave Calhoun is summoned Tuesday afternoon before a US Senate committee of inquiry into production quality, a hearing eagerly awaited by the families of victims of the 2018 and 2019 crashes. who demand a criminal trial.

This is the first time that Mr. Calhoun will be questioned publicly since the incident of January 5, when a 737 MAX 9 plane delivered in October to Alaska Airlines lost a cap holder in flight, a cover blocking an exit redundant backup.

According to the preliminary report from the United States Transportation Safety Agency (NTSB), several fastening bolts had not been put back in place after an intervention on the assembly line.

Mr. Calhoun plans to offer his “personal apology” to the families of the victims of the two crashes, to express regret on behalf of the group to Alaska Airlines staff and passengers, and to once again take responsibility for the situation, according to his statement sent to AFP on Monday.

“Our culture is far from perfect, but we are taking steps and we are making progress,” he planned to say, along with Howard McKenzie, Boeing’s chief engineer.

Because the group has been experiencing production and quality problems on its commercial aircraft (737 MAX, 787 Dreamliner and 777) for many months.

“Empty” promises

“It’s a culture that continues to prioritize profits, push the limits and ignore its employees,” Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, chairman of the commission of inquiry, planned to denounce at the opening of the session, saying that the promises made by Boeing had only turned out to be “empty shells”.

Addressing Mr. Calhoun directly, he intends to reproach him for “the erosion of safety culture” for “taking care of [ses] shareholders”.

Mr. Calhoun was appointed CEO of Boeing in early 2020, of which he had been a director since 2009, to turn around the situation after the two crashes. But the group’s failures precipitated its retirement by the end of 2024.

Several audits and investigations, including one carried out by the American civil aviation regulator (FAA), have in fact identified numerous “non-compliance” problems and deficiencies, particularly in quality control.

This commission of inquiry has already heard, in mid-April, four whistleblowers.

She published a press release Tuesday morning containing new elements reported by other whistleblowers, focusing on a report by Sam Mohawk.

Currently employed by Boeing, he claims that damaged or non-compliant parts are incorrectly listed and risk being installed on planes in Renton, the factory that manufactures the 737 MAX. Another, who remained anonymous, assures that the aircraft manufacturer has worked to eliminate quality inspections, leaving it to workers to self-monitor.

While waiting for the planes to return to the necessary quality, the FAA has capped the manufacturing rate of the 737 MAX, its flagship plane.

Mr. Calhoun will undoubtedly be questioned about the “comprehensive action plan” required at the end of February by the FAA to remedy these problems. This plan was submitted at the end of May.

The stakes are high: the aircraft manufacturer could be overtaken by the consequences of the crash of the two 737 MAX 8s, which left 346 dead.

Lawsuits ?

According to the US Department of Justice, Boeing “did not comply with its obligations” under a so-called deferred prosecution agreement (DPA), linked to these accidents, concluded on January 7, 2021 with a surveillance of three years.

Accused of fraud in the 737 MAX certification process, Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion and committed, among other things, to strengthening its compliance program.

Threatened with criminal charges in a Texas federal court, the group formally challenged the department’s findings last week. The latter must decide whether or not to continue before July 7.

Several relatives of victims plan to attend the hearing on Tuesday.

“If there is no risk of imprisonment for these leaders who play with our lives, then nothing will change,” Adnaan Sumo, who lost his sister in the March 10 crash, told AFP 2019 in Ethiopia.

He was, with other family members of victims, near Congress, just before the hearing.

At her side, Nadia Milleron, who lost her daughter Samya Rose Stumo, aged 27. “There are so many production defects that a third crush can occur. And it almost happened,” she lamented.