TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - U.S. lawmakers grilled Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun at a Senate hearing on June 18 over the airplane maker's tarnished safety record. Calhoun faced repeated questions from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations about how much he is paid, Boeing's safety culture, and why he is not stepping down immediately instead of retiring at the end of the year.

"I am proud of every action we have taken," Calhoun said in response to Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, who accused Calhoun of "strip-mining" Boeing while earning a multimillion-dollar salary.

Calhoun's total compensation in 2023 was US$32.8 million, a 45 percent increase from the US$22.6 million he received the year before.

The hearing marks the first time Calhoun has faced questions from lawmakers and puts Boeing's shattered safety reputation in the spotlight. In March, Calhoun said he planned to step down by the end of the year amid a management overhaul at Boeing.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the subcommittee, called the proceedings a "moment of reckoning" for Boeing. He said that given the overwhelming evidence; the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) should prosecute Boeing.

In May, the DoJ found that Boeing had failed to "design, implement and enforce a compliance and ethics program" as part of a deferred prosecution agreement following the fatal crashes.

Calhoun took responsibility for incidents that have plunged Boeing into crisis over the past five years, acknowledging that the January 5 Alaska Airlines ALK.N door-pin incident was caused by a manufacturing defect.

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Apology to Families of 737 Max Crashes

Boeing also took responsibility for the development of a key software system linked to fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019, which killed a total of 346 people.

At the start of the hearing, Calhoun addressed the families of the crash victims. "I apologize for the grief we have caused," he said, adding that the company is fully committed to addressing safety concerns, and calling the families' losses "gut-wrenching."

Boeing's chief engineer, Howard McKenzie, had downplayed safety concerns about hundreds of improperly tightened fasteners on some of the planemaker's 787 wide-body jets. The discovery of the fasteners was first reported by Reuters last week.

New Whistleblower

Blumenthal said a new whistleblower has come forward after a hearing with a previous whistleblower in April. The senator said that Sam Mohawk, a current Boeing quality assurance investigator at the 737 factory in Renton, Washington, recently said that he had witnessed systemic disregard for parts that were potentially defective or lacked required documentation.

In a report released by the committee ahead of the hearing, Mohawk said his work handling nonconforming parts became significantly more "complex and demanding" after MAX production resumed in 2020 following two fatal crashes involving the model.

According to the report, Mohawk filed a related claim with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in June.

Regulators and airlines have stepped up scrutiny of Boeing since a door plug on a 737 MAX 9 jet blew out in midair in January. The National Transportation Safety Board said four key bolts were missing from the Alaska Airlines plane. The Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into the incident.

On May 30, Boeing submitted a quality improvement plan to the FAA after Whitaker gave the company 90 days to develop a comprehensive effort to address "systemic quality control issues." He has barred the company from expanding production of the 737 MAX.

REUTERS

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