David Calhoun, Boeing CEO, blasted by US senators, including Josh Howley, over salary, safety record

Boeing CEO David Calhoun was brutally grilled on Tuesday regarding the aviation giant’s safety culture and transparency during his first appearance before the US Congress since an exit door blew out of a 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight in January this year.

One of the tough questions that Calhoun faced was from Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, who repeatedly asked the CEO about his salary per year, which saw a 45 per cent increase from 2023, even when the aviation company had been in shambles due to a spate of incidents in his tenure.

Calhoun’s total compensation in 2023 rose to $32.8 million, a 45 per cent increase from the $22.6 million he received the previous year.

Slamming the Boeing CEO, Hawley said Calhoun is only interested in “cutting corners” and squeezing every penny out of the aviation giant, without paying any heed to the transparency of the company, passengers’ 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 blasted David Calhoun.

The US Congressman stressed the multiple investigations currently underway in connection with the Boeing incidents, including whether the aviation giant completed required inspections on its 787 aircraft and if employees falsified records.

Hawley said that, in contrast to the CEO, the Boeing employees are in pain and the whistleblowers are “literally fearing for their lives”.

“Don’t you think your priorities are misplaced here?” Hawley asked the Boeing CEO during the hearing.

David Calhoun was also asked by Hawley why he hadn’t resigned yet.

“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,” the CEO responded, much to Hawley’s disbelief.

“I think it’s a travesty that you’re still in your job,” Hawley said.

David Calhoun was named the CEO of Boeing in January 2020, and the company announced in March that he would step down from the role by 2024-end.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the subcommittee, called it a “moment of reckoning” for the aviation giant and told the hearing there was overwhelming evidence that the US Justice Department should pursue prosecution against Boeing.

Prosecutors have until July 7 to inform a federal judge in Texas of their plans. In May, the Justice Department found that Boeing had failed to “design, implement, and enforce a compliance and ethics programme” as part of complying with a deferred prosecution agreement following the fatal crashes, news agency Reuters reported.

Boeing’s reputation has been marred in recent years by two major 737 Max aircraft, separate but identical incidents that claimed the lives of 346 people.

In October 2018, all 189 people on a Lion Air flight died after the aircraft crashed into the Java Sea 13 minutes after takeoff from Indonesia’s capital Jakarta. A few months later, in October 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed six minutes after takeoff from the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, killing all 157 onboard. Both the incidents were linked to faulty flight control systems.

In the latest Alaska Airlines incident, the flight carrying 174 passengers and six crew members had to make an emergency landing in the US’s Portland due to the exit door blowing off. Visuals of the plane flooded social media, showing the rear mid-cabin exit door wall missing on the plane. The door was originally meant for evacuation purposes, but was not activated on Alaska Airlines aircraft and was permanently “plugged”.

Later, the New York Times reported that an extensive audit conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) into the Boeing 737 production revealed alarming matters, including mechanics using hotel key card to assess door seal integrity and applying dish liquid soap to a door seal “as a lubricant in the fit-up process”.

BOEING CEO APOLOGISES

David Calhoun apologised to the families of the victims of the 2018 and 2019 crashes, and also acknowledged that the Alaska Airlines incident was a result of a manufacturing defect.

“I apologise for the grief that we have caused,” he said, as he was heckled by family members of victims of the crashes.

Families of some of the victims have now asked federal officials to impose a $24.8 billion fine on Boeing and swiftly move to prosecute the company on a criminal charge that set aside three years ago, The Associated Press reported.