Can Boeing correct course and fly right? Despite recent debacles, industry expert says skies will clear

It’s bad times for Boeing. How did one of the most recognized aerospace giants fly into such rough turbulence?

“Now you've got quality issues, which reflect, frankly, a culture that seems to have gone a bit astray,” said Richard Aboulafia, a consultant with Aerodynamics Advisory.

While speaking with KUOW’s Morning Edition, Aboulafia argued that Boeing’s culture has changed over the past few years, largely because of a “disconnect between senior management and the people actually designing and building jets … the company has been slowly spiraling down since.”

Boeing’s most recent woes began after a door plug blew out mid-flight over Portland. It was quite a scare, but the 737 Max 9 landed safely. The planes were grounded after that, but all 737 Max 9 jets could be back in the air as soon as Friday, now that the FAA has created a checklist for airlines to follow.

The incident renewed concerns over Boeing’s quality, five years after the company faced severe scrutiny over a software problem that caused two fatal crashes.

On Wednesday, workers at Boeing’s Renton plant conducted a “stand down” — a factory-wide staff meeting with a focus on quality control of their aircrafts. It adds another step in an uphill battle Boeing has been fighting for the past few years. After the fallout from the two fatal 737 crashes, the pandemic halted production across the aviation industry, delivering a blow to supply chains.

“As a consequence they’re trying to make this extremely ambitious production ramp up happen after a period of the shutdowns,” Aboulafia said.

Still, despite the hit to the company’s reputation, Aboulafia said, “strangely enough, they are in a relatively healthy position. Failure is not really a risk right now."

“Boeing still has some pretty darn great people. They still have great people, great products, and great technology," he said. "All they need is a different approach to leadership. They can recover from this, but it’ll take a long time.”

Still, Aboulafia has to admit, now is the first time in his 35-year-long career that he thought twice about feeling safe aboard a flight, which concerns him. On the other hand, he adds that he trusts regulators.

“But yes, I would get on a 737 Max," Aboulafia said. "I think I will tomorrow, as a matter of fact.”

Boeing Timeline

1997 — Boeing merger with McDonnell Douglas

Twenty-seven years ago, Boeing merged with McDonnell Douglas, one of Boeing’s long-time competitors. Aboulafia said that’s when the culture at Boeing started to change. The merger has been cited as the beginning of the aerospace company prioritizing profit.

“They de-prioritized engineering, there is truth to that,” Aboulafia said, adding that some of the largest changes came when Jim Mcnerney became the head of Boeing.

2005 — James McNerney hired as CEO

“[McNerney] brought that General Electric – Jack Welch culture, which understands cost cutting, cost cutting, cost cutting, and really nothing more,” Aboulafia said.

This cost-cutting approach was “far worse” than the culture change that happened around the merger, Aboulafia said. Such cost-cutting policies have remained part of Boeing’s culture, even under current CEO David Callahoun.

2018-19 — Two 737 Max crashes kill 346 people

A year after Boeing debuted the 737 Max 8, two fatal crashes sowed seeds of doubt around the company’s quality. In October 2018, a Lion Air flight out of Jakarta, Indonesia, crashed into the Java Sea, killing 189 people. Five months later, 157 people died when an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed. Both incidents were attributed to a glitch with an automated flight control system and other design problems. The 737 Max was grounded worldwide from March 2019 to December 2020, and Boeing was cited for lacking transparency with the FAA. Boeing halted the 737 Max production line for almost a year.

2024 — Door plug blows off during Alaska flight

In December 2023, airlines were urged to inspect newer 737 Max jets for loose bolts. In January 2024, a “door plug” blew off of an Alaska Airlines flight over Portland. In an unrelated incident the same month, Delta Airlines reported that a nose tire from a 757 jet fell off shortly before takeoff in Atlanta.

The FAA has ordered Boeing to halt any efforts to expand production in 2024 and remain at its current rate of 38 planes a month.