What went wrong with Boeing?

On January 5, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, a Boeing 737 MAX 9, at an altitude of more than 16,000 feet, had an incident where an emergency exit door was ripped off, depressurizing the cabin. Miraculously, there were no fatalities. On January 13, A Boeing 737-800 operated by All Nippon Airways canceled its flight owing to a cracked cockpit window. On January 20, A Boeing 757 operated by Delta Airlines lost a wheel during takeoff. These are only a handful of many incidents involving Boeing. When passengers board a plane, they implicitly trust the expertise of the aviation industry to keep them safe when they are in the air. But these incidents have shaken the trust of the passengers. Where did everything go wrong for Boeing?

Is it purely the company that is at fault or is there more to this than meets the eye? Here is an in-depth analysis from whistleblowers, current and former employees on how the culture in Boeing had changed over the decades. The chronological factors analyzed below shows how the company went from being an American icon to a tragedy.

An Unsuspecting Merger

Boeing merged with McDonnell Douglas, a competitor in a similar space, in 1997. While it was famed for its DC-3 civilian aircraft, the end of WW2 marked an era where defense contractors saw reduced contracts, which made it hard for them to maintain operations. The only alternative was for them to merge with Boeing. Post-merger, this led to a radical change in which the engineer-first culture was overtaken by the profit-focused approach. This can be seen in the statement made by Harry Stonecipher, the former president of Boeing, “When people say I changed the culture at Boeing, that was the intent, so that it’s run like a business rather than an engineering firm.” This decision led to the removal of thousands of jobs and the relocation of the headquarters to Chicago.

Competition and Disasters

In 2003, Boeing fell behind its competitor from Europe, the maker of the now-famous Airbus A380. For the first time in its history, Airbus had secured more jet orders compared to its American counterpart. In 2010, they developed a more efficient version of the A320 called the A320neo (New Engine Option). This was a revolutionary design that would consume less fuel, this came at a time when aircraft fuel prices were at an all-time high. It sold a record-breaking 667 units in a week; to put this in perspective, Boeing did not sell that many737s in an entire year.

Boeing,in an attempt to compete with this would release the 737Max, this decision would not only impact their market share, but also result in one of history’s worst corporate decisions. The Boeing 737 Max was a modification of the engines strapped onto a 45-year-old design of the 737. The engines, though efficient, were heavier, this meant they had to be installed closer to the body to accommodate the increased weight. This resulted in a complete alteration of the aerodynamics of the aircraft. And to counter the aforementioned aerodynamic dilemma, they implemented a new system called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), it was a flight stabilizing software which would prevent stalls. However, the pilots were not notified of this major technicality. MCAS Relies on inputs from a sensor called the Angle of Attack sensor. If this was faulty, it would send the aircraft into an unrecoverable nosedive. Boeing omitted this critical detail from the aircraft's operation manuals, which were used by the pilots. This technical flaw caused two fatal crashes where all the passengers died. The FAA (Federal Aviation Authority) submitted a report highlighting these flaws to the Department of Justice, which resulted in Boeing having to pay a hefty fine of $2.5 Billion in settlement, and the succeeding PR would further cause them a $20 Billion loss.

Haste over Quality

Boeing, from 2019 to 2024, had been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons; despite the bad press, they were still seen prioritizing shareholder returns over engineering excellence, and numerous undercover investigations carried out at their manufacturing facilities revealed shocking truths where even the technicians wouldn't fly in those aircraft. It was also revealed that they had outsourced all the tasks to numerous contractors, who had further hired contractors who were working on minimum wage and didn't have the necessary qualifications.

In the case of the Alaska Airlines incident, an investigation by NTSB revealed that the bolts were not present in the locked-up emergency exit doors. When a further investigation was carried out, it was also revealed that there were no records of the work carried out on these parts.

Boeing disclosures show they havespent millions of dollars lobbying for deregulation of airline safety. Was the company a spoilt child of America? Did the financialization decision make them prioritize profit at the cost of human safety?

Is it possible for Boeing to make a comeback, or should the FAA and the government take drastic measures to ensure no other lives are put in jeopardy for decisions made by the top management? As of now, the regulators have given the airline manufacturer a 90-day deadline to outline what changes they are going to implement to make sure such incidents are not to be repeated.