Since then, the problems have been multiplying for Boeing to the point where it’s impossible to ignore for even the most casual news observers. Since the beginning of March, Boeing planes have veered off the runway, lost a tire, shot flames from the engine and taken an unexpected nosedive, injuring 50 people. The nosedive incident, caused by an undiagnosed “technical event” on a flight from Sydney, Australia, to Auckland, New Zealand, is the latest in a seemingly endless string of embarrassing and confidence-obliterating incidents for Boeing. The most significant fallout from these incidents is the March 25 announcement that CEO Dave Calhoun will step down, effective the end of the year. However, it is clear that Boeing’s problems extend far beyond one individual, and instead point to a culture of total impunity and corrosive greed. After all, following two major crashes involving Boeing 737 MAX planes in 2018 and 2019, Boeing’s then-CEO Dennis Muilenberg was dismissed, but the company’s culture clearly remained exactly the same. Muilenberg received a massive $62 million compensation package, went off to his retirement home and the cycle repeated. With true enforcement by the FAA and any fear of true consequences, it is difficult to imagine Boeing’s modus operandi changing dramatically, outside of public relations measures. To illustrate the extent of Boeing’s recent turmoil, a recent Politico article details how former Boeing Executive and Whistleblower Ed Pierson refuses to fly on a MAX plane, even going so far as to walk off a MAX plane. “Last year, I was flying from Seattle to New York, and I purposely scheduled myself on a non-MAX airplane. I went to the gate. I walked in, sat down and looked straight ahead, and lo and behold, there was a 737-8/737-9 (MAX) safety card,” said Pierson. “So I got up, and I walked off. The flight attendant didn’t want me to get off the plane. And I was not trying to cause a scene. I just wanted to get off the plane, and I just didn’t think it was safe. I said I purposely scheduled myself not to fly on a MAX.” You can’t find a more damning indictment than a former senior Boeing official refusing to fly on a MAX plane. However, the recent string of in-air mishaps is just the tip of the iceberg in Boeing’s recent controversies. On March 9, John Barnett, a former Boeing quality control manager who became a whistleblower against the company, was found dead in Charleston, South Carolina, where he formerly worked at Boeing’s large 787 plant. Barnett was found deceased in a vehicle in a motel parking lot, where the coroner’s office says the cause of death “appears to be a selfinflicted gunshot wound.” However, since his death, there has been rampant speculation that Barnett didn’t take his own life. Even though Barnett could have completed his testimony the previous day, Boeing’s attorneys reportedly requested Barnett stay an additional night and complete his testimony the next day, March 9. Also, Barnett was set to come into a large financial settlement, and friends and family have said that Barnett told them, “If anything happens to me, it’s not suicide.” It’s a mountain of circumstantial evidence that points to some wildly amoral, damaging actions on behalf of Boeing. The rising tide of the Barnett scandal, combined with the constant issues with the 737 MAX, has placed Boeing at a genuine crisis point. 16
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