Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun Grilled by US Lawmakers in Senate Hearing

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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