This is yet another post about Boeing and its troubles. I know I seem obsessive about this issue, and I am. It saddens me that a company known for—some would say who defined—engineering excellence has been hijacked by a pack of bean counters who care for nothing but its stock price.
Boeing’s senior management loathes experienced and competent engineers. Their CEO, Jim McNerney called them “phenomenally talented assholes” and encouraged his management team to ostracize them into leaving the company. They’ve been largely successful.
Over at The American Prospect, Maureen Tkacik has an excellent, if depressing, article on Boeing’s Suicide Mission. I challenge you to read it without becoming infuriated. The story is told from the point of view of a long time (30 years) Boeing quality manager, John Barnett. For the crime of refusing to look the other way, he was targeted and finally driven from the company.
The article claims that management had let their concern for the stock price lead them to ignoring safety concerns, covering up problems, and into actual criminality. Hundreds have died due to problems with the 737 Max but the problems are everywhere. One group of 15 Boeing line mechanics were asked if they would fly on a 787 Dreamliner. All but 5 said no.
Barnett was set to testify in a criminal inquiry concerning Boeing’s practices when he died—some would say mysteriously. His death was ruled a suicide but those who knew him are having none of that. One long term former executive, speaking of Boeing senior management, said, “I don’t think one can be cynical enough when it comes to these guys.”
Tkacik’s article is long but it’s a great read and I urge you to spend a few minutes with it. It’s saddening and infuriating to read about the suicide of a company that once defined engineering and manufacturing excellence. As Tkacik puts it, “[Boeing is] an institution that [is] in a perpetual state of unlearning all the lessons it had absorbed over a 90-year ascent to the pinnacle of global manufacturing.”