Republican Sen. John Hawley of Missouri ripped Boeing CEO David Calhoun over the aerospace company’s safety issues during a Tuesday hearing.
Calhoun testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations at a hearing about the aerospace company’s safety record in the wake of several high-profile incidents, including the loss of a door from a Boeing 737 MAX during a Jan. 5 Alaska Airlines flight. Hawley accused Calhoun of “strip-mining” the company for “profits” after grilling the Boeing CEO over his compensation of nearly $33 million.
“I think the truth is, Mr. Calhoun, you’re not focused on safety, you’re not focused on quality, you’re, not focused on transparency,” Hawley told the Boeing CEO. “All of this is in the record, but I think actually you’re focused on exactly what you were hired to do, which is that you’re cutting corners, you are eliminating safety procedures, you are sticking it to your employees, you are cutting back jobs because you’re trying to squeeze every piece of profit you can out of this… company.”
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“You’re strip-mining it, you’re strip-mining Boeing, which is one of the greatest American companies ever,” Hawley continued. “It has employed thousands of people in my state and you are strip mining it for profit, and you’re being rewarded for it. You got a huge raise, a huge increase, so it’s working out great for you. For the American people, they’re in danger. For your workers, they’re in peril, for your whistleblowers, they literally fear for their lives, but you’re getting compensated like never before. Don’t you think maybe your priorities are misplaced here?”
Boeing reported a $355 million loss for the previous quarter in April. After further questioning by Hawley, Calhoun declared that he was “proud” of Boeing’s safety record.
“Wow. There’s some news for you,” Hawley responded. “Behind you, you can’t see it, behind you the folks are… are showing pictures of the people who are the victims of your safety record. I think we can all see `em, and I think the American public, when they fear to get on airplanes, they understand your safety record, and frankly, sir, I think it’s a travesty that you’re still in your job.”
The Justice Department accused Boeing of violating a probation agreement imposed in the wake of two deadly crashes involving its 737 MAX airliner in April, The Wall Street Journal reported. The DOJ is considering whether to pursue criminal charges against the aerospace giant by a July 7 deadline in the wake of the January incident involving the Alaska Airlines plane which occurred shortly before the deferred-prosecution agreement was set to expire, according to the WSJ.
