A hearing titled 'Boeing's broken safety culture' is set to take place on Tuesday, where the company and its CEO, Dave Calhoun, will come under scrutiny. This marks Calhoun's first appearance before Congress since taking the helm of the troubled company more than four years ago.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut Democrat leading the committee, has outlined strong criticisms of Boeing and Calhoun in his planned opening remarks. He accuses Calhoun of prioritizing profits over airplane safety and fostering a culture where employees who raised safety concerns were met with retaliation, despite management's claims to the contrary.
'This is a culture that continues to prioritize profits, push limits, and disregard its workers,' Blumenthal stated in his prepared remarks. 'A culture where those who speak up are silenced and sidelined while blame is pushed down to the factory floor. A culture that enables retaliation against those who do not submit to the bottom line. A culture that desperately needs to be repaired.'
Blumenthal expressed disappointment that Calhoun, who took over as CEO in January 2020 amidst the 737 Max grounding following two fatal crashes, did not bring about the desired changes in Boeing's culture and practices. The recent incident involving an Alaska Airlines door plug blowout further highlighted the underlying issues within the company.
The hearing is expected to delve into the allegations of a broken safety culture at Boeing and explore ways to address and rectify these concerns moving forward. It remains to be seen how Boeing and Calhoun will respond to the criticisms and what steps they plan to take to improve safety practices within the company.
