Boeing CEO Takes Accountability for the Alaska Airlines Incident

Boeing CEO takes accountability for the Alaska Airlines incident involving part of the plane that blew off. During Boeing’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Wednesday, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun took responsibility for what happened during the flight. Calhoun said, “We caused the problem.” 

He added while reporting the company’s 2023 fourth-quarter earnings, “My focus is on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 and the actions we are taking as a company to earn the confidence of our customers, the confidence of our regulators and the flying public.”

Boeing is Accountable

Calhoun said “Boeing is accountable for what happened.” He then added “Whatever the specific cause of the accident might turn out to be, an event like this must simply not happen on an airplane that leaves one of our factories. We simply must be better. Our customers deserve better.”

Calhoun expects that the results from the investigation conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board Investigation will be in “relatively short order.” 

Boeing’s Additional Precautions

The Boeing CEO also said that the company made the necessary adjustments in its quality control. 

This includes additional inspections and issued bulletins to suppliers. Boeing also opened factories to 737 operators to have additional oversight and appointed an adviser responsible for conducting a comprehensive and independent review on Boeing’s commercial airplane quality management system. 

And lastly, the aircraft manufacturer paused 737 production for one day to what is described as “at a scale we have never done before.” Calhoun also encouraged their employees to speak up if there is anything they want to report. 

Boeing produces a total of 38 737s per month. However, the company is going to maintain this number to meet the restrictions from the Federal Aviation Administration. 

This time, Boeing didn’t issue a 2024 financial outlook. The Boeing CEO said “Now is not the time for that.” For the fourth quarter of 2023, Boeing made $22 billion in revenue and a total of $77 billion for the year according to their financial statements.