It's a 'travesty' Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun is still in his job, says U.S. senator during heated hearing
CBC
U.S. lawmakers pressed Boeing's chief executive Tuesday about the company's latest plan to fix its manufacturing problems, and relatives of people who died in two crashes of Boeing 737 Max jetliners were in the room to remind him of what was at stake.
CEO David Calhoun appeared before the Senate investigations subcommittee, which is chaired by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, a Boeing critic.
Blumenthal opened the hearing by recognizing the relatives of the crash victims and the family of a Boeing whistleblower who died by suicide earlier this year.
"This hearing is a moment of reckoning," the senator said. "It's about a company, a once-iconic company, that somehow lost its way."
Calhoun's appearance before Congress was the first by a high-ranking Boeing official since a panel blew out of a 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. No one was seriously injured in the incident, but it raised fresh concerns about the company's best-selling commercial aircraft.
Calhoun sat at the witness table and fidgeted with his eyeglasses as Blumenthal spoke. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., thanked the CEO for coming to face "tough questions."
Before giving his prepared opening statement, Calhoun stood and faced the people in the audience holding poster-sized photos of some of the 346 people who died in the 2018 and 2019 crashes.
"I apologize for the grief that we have caused," he said.
Senators asked Calhoun if Boeing retaliated against employees who reported concerns, to which he didn't respond directly. They also asked if he had ever spoken directly with any whistleblowers, and he replied that he hadn't, but said he would.
The toughest line of inquiry came from Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from MIssouri, who repeatedly asked Calhoun about what he did to deserve the size of his salary. Calhoun, who has said he plans to retire at the end of the year, earned $32.8 million US in compensation last year.
"You're focused on exactly what you were hired to do, which is that you're cutting corners. You are eliminating safety procedures. You are sticking it to your employees. You are cutting back jobs because you're trying to squeeze every piece of profit you can out of this company," Hawley said, his voice rising.
"You're strip-mining it. You're strip-mining Boeing."
Asked by Hawley why he had not resigned, Calhoun answered, "Senator, 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."
Hawley interrupted: "You're proud of the safety record?" he asked with incredulity.
