Lawmakers question Boeing CEO David Calhoun in new hearing as plane maker flounders

Boeing CEO David Calhoun will address congressional lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Tuesday in a new hearing focused on the company’s safety practices.

The hearing, called by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, was triggered by the January explosion of a door panel on an Alaska Airlines flight and subsequent revelations about Boeing and its safety practices following the incident.

“Last January, the facade literally blew up the hollow shell that was Boeing’s promises to the world,” the senator said. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in prepared remarks. “And once that sinkhole was discovered, we learned that there was virtually no bottom in the void below.”

Calhoun, who announced in March his intention to step down as CEO by the end of this year, joined Boeing as a director in 2009. He became a lead independent director in 2018, before taking over Boeing’s leadership in 2020. of the two Boeing 737 Max disasters that killed 346 people when the planes crashed in Ethiopia and the Java Sea in the space of five months.

Boeing’s safety culture needed to be overhauled after the accidents, which cost Calhoun’s predecessor, Dennis Muilenburg, his job.

Critics say this does not appear to have happened. In a March interview with NBC News, FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker said Boeing’s priorities “are focused on production, not safety and quality.”

“They have to make safe planes, otherwise they will be limited to a level of production that is not sustainable,” he said. “So I’m confident they will succeed.”

Others said Calhoun was continuing a decades-long trend at the company of inappropriately balancing financial decisions with those related to safety — allegations that Boeing consistently denies.

In a letter to clients in November 2023 – two months before the January blowout incident – ​​Richard Aboulafia, managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory and a prominent aerospace analyst, accused Calhoun of perpetuating “a dysfunctional culture” at Boeing.

“What is Calhoun’s reason for abolishing the company-wide strategy department? Cost cutting is an obvious explanation,” Aboulafia wrote. “Based on my December 2019 letter, the longer Calhoun stayed, the clearer it would become that shareholder returns were his only goal. After four years, this is all too obvious.”

In his opening remarks, Blumenthal highlighted these shortcomings.

“Mr. Calhoun, you were hired to turn this company around,” the senator said. “But instead of asking what caused the erosion of Boeing’s safety culture, you and your senior management colleagues have deflected the blame, looked the other way, and turned instead to your shareholders. Boeing needs to stop thinking about the next earnings announcement and start thinking about the next generation.”

Boeing remains under investigation by the Justice Department and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Last month, the Justice Department said Boeing violated an agreement reached in 2021 following the fatal 737 Max incidents by failing to implement the required compliance and ethics program – although it did not disclose what violations. specific events had taken place.

Boeing disputed the Justice Department’s conclusion. The department is now considering whether to pursue charges against the company, although it is rare for settlements to be overturned.

In addition to its renewed efforts to increase oversight of Boeing, the FAA, which continues to monitor production of the company’s Max plane, is also looking inward. Last week, Whitaker said the agency’s approach to the company had been “too careless,” relying on paper audits rather than inspections.

“We will use the full extent of our enforcement powers to ensure Boeing is held accountable for any non-compliance,” he said. “We currently have several active investigations into Boeing and are processing a number of reports filed by whistleblowers.”

In the hours before Calhoun appeared on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, the subcommittee released new whistleblower allegations from a Boeing quality assurance investigator who accused the company of retaliating against him for reporting that Boeing was likely installing damaged or inappropriate parts on planes and hiding spare parts from FAA inspectors.

A Boeing spokeswoman said the company received the claims Monday evening and its staff was reviewing them.

Boeing shares have fallen 30% since the start of the year.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com