David Calhoun tells staff Boeing needs to address fallout, shouldn’t speculate about what caused Alaska Airlines blowout
Boeing CEO David Calhoun said the company needs to acknowledge its mistake as the aircraft maker reels from a door-plug failure that has resulted in roughly 170 of its planes being grounded and spooked its customers.
In his first remarks since the harrowing accident, Calhoun indicated a misstep by the aircraft maker played a role. “We are gonna approach this—No. 1—acknowledging our mistake,” Calhoun said Tuesday in an address to employees just days after the incident on an Alaska Airlines flight.
“We’re gonna approach it with 100% and complete transparency every step of the way,” he said. “We are going to work with the [National Transportation Safety Board] who is investigating the accident itself to find out what the cause is.”
Calhoun didn’t specify what mistake he was referring to, and other executives who spoke cautioned against speculation. Boeing declined to elaborate. The Journal reviewed audio of their remarks at an all-hands meeting at the 737 factory in Renton, Wash.
Regulators have grounded about 170 Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes since Saturday after a door plug detached from a MAX 9 jet at 16,000 feet, leaving the plane flying with a gaping hole. United Airlines and Alaska Airlines said they have found other MAX 9 planes with loose parts as they check the grounded fleet.
Boeing executives said airlines are shaken by the incident. “Moments like this shake them to the bone, just like it shook me,” Calhoun said in the meeting. “They have confidence in all of us—they do—and they will again.”