Retaining CEO perpetuates Boeing’s culture of profits over safety

• Boeing Board of Directors raised minimum mandatory retirement age for executives from 64 to 70
• Calhoun became Boeing CEO about halfway through nearly two-year grounding of 737 MAX
• Two Boeing 737 MAX crashes took lives of 346 people

The reaction was swift to today’s action by the Boeing Board of Directors that raised the minimum mandatory retirement age for executives from 64 to 70.  The current CEO Dave Calhoun turned 64 this week.

Calhoun became Boeing CEO in January 2020, about halfway through the nearly two-year grounding of the 737 MAX following two crashes that took the lives of 346 people.

Michael Stumo, father of Samya Rose Stumo who was killed in the crash, said, “Boeing needs to search for new leadership with demonstrated experience in and commitment to great engineering, flawless manufacturing and reinvesting in the business for the long term.  Calhoun was a GE Vice President and board member as it’s short termism and cost cutting led to its ultimate decline. In his 12 years at Boeing, he continued the pattern as the company fired engineers, offshored critical work, and squeezed suppliers. Calhoun voted to spend profits to buy back stock and boost the share price for executive enrichment. He did not vote to reinvest those profits into safer designs, quality personnel and manufacturing excellence.”

Calhoun has been on the Boeing board since 2009 throughout the development of the 737 MAX.  More recently, Boeing announced a new grounding of the aircraft when it was discovered earlier this month that new electrical problems arose on the plane.

Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner of Clifford Law Offices in Chicago and Lead Counsel in the crash of the Boeing plane in Ethiopia two years ago, said, “The public record shows that Mr. Calhoun was deeply involved in Boeing‘s culture of maximizing profits over safety. His continued employment at Boeing sets the stage to perpetuate that culture.”