Boeing needs to be led by engineers, time is not on its side, Emirates Airline president says

Boeing
needs
to
be
led
by
engineers
if
it
wants
to
pull
itself
out
of
its

current
crisis,
Tim
Clark,
the
president
of
Emirates
Airline,
said
Wednesday.

Boeing
said
Monday
that
CEO
Dave
Calhoun

will
step
down
at
the
end
of
the
year,
part
of
a
broad
management
shake-up.
The
U.S.
aerospace
giant
is
once
again
mired
in
controversy
following
a
recent
series
of
mid-flight
technical
failures,
starting
with
a
door
panel
that
blew
off
of
a
new

Alaska
Airlines
737
Max
9
midflight
on
Jan.
5

The
Federal
Aviation
Administration
and
Justice
Department
are
now
scrutinizing
the
plane
maker
more
intensely,
the
former
capping
the
production
of
Boeing’s
737
aircraft
at
38
per
month
while
it
investigates
the
company’s
manufacturing
practices.
The
FAA

grounded
all
737
Max
9
aircraft
with
door
plugs
for
inspection
on
Jan.
6,
though
the
planes
were
cleared
to
fly
shortly
afterward.

“To
fix
Boeing’s
issues
the
company
needs
a
strong
engineering
lead
as
its
head
coupled
to
a
governance
model
which
prioritizes
safety
and
quality,”
said
Clark,
who
leads
Dubai’s
flag
carrier
Emirates.

“It
is
little
wonder
that
the
Machinists
Union
wants
a
seat
on
the
board,
simply
to
ensure
that
the
voice
of
the
factory
floor
is
part
and
parcel
of
the
decision
process
and
is
fully
integrated
into
the
governance
model’s
risk
management
strategies.”

Aviation
analysts
and
former
Boeing
employees
have
criticized
the
company’s
reported
sidelining
of
engineers
in
its
senior
management
ranks.
They
note
that
of
the
top
executives
at
Boeing,
the
only
one
with
an
engineering
background
was
Stan
Deal
—
the
outgoing
CEO
of
Boeing’s
commercial
airplane
division.
He
is
stepping
down
and
will
be
succeeded
by
Stephanie
Pope,
Boeing’s
newly
named
chief
operating
officer,
Boeing
said
Monday.

“Whether,
yet
again,
this
changing
of
the
guard
will
resolve
Boeing’s
issues
only
time
will
tell,
but
time,
unfortunately,
is
not
on
their
side,”
Clark
said
in
emailed
comments. “I
would
suggest
that
some
serious
lateral
thinking
kicks
in
as
soon
as
possible.”

CNBC
has
contacted
Boeing
for
comment.

Up
until
the
Alaska
Airlines
accident,
the
plane
maker
was
seen
as
having
recovered
from
its
2018-2019
crisis
period,
during
which
time
two
of
its
new
737
Max
jets
crashed
within
a
period
of
six
months,
killing
346
people.

The
737
Max
was
grounded
worldwide
for
nearly
two
years
after
that,
and
the
ensuing
investigations
found
design
problems
in
the
aircraft,
insufficient
training
of
pilots
on
the
new
models,
and
the
hiding
of
information
from
safety
regulators,
leading
to
billions
of
dollars
in
fines
for
Boeing
and
a
senior
management
shake-up.

But
following
the
Alaska
Airlines
door
blowout
in
January,
the

FAA’s
six-week
audit
of
Boeing
and
Spirit
AeroSystems “found
multiple
instances
where
the
companies
allegedly
failed
to
comply
with
manufacturing
quality
control
requirements,”
according
to
an
FAA
release
published
March
4.

“The
FAA
identified
non-compliance
issues
in
Boeing’s
manufacturing
process
control,
parts
handling
and
storage,
and
product
control,”
it
said.
The
regulatory
agency
said
it
informed
Boeing’s
leadership
that
it “must
address
the
audit’s
findings
as
part
of
its
comprehensive
corrective
action
plan
to
fix
systemic
quality-control
issues,”
and
address
its “safety
culture.”

In
a

previous
statement
cited
by
CNBC,
a
Boeing
spokesperson
said
in
response
to
the
FAA
findings
that
the
company
continues “to
implement
immediate
changes
and
develop
a
comprehensive
action
plan
to
strengthen
safety
and
quality.” 

“We
are
squarely
focused
on
taking
significant,
demonstrated
action
with
transparency
at
every
turn,”
the
spokesperson
said.

—
CNBC’s
Joan
Muwahed
contributed
to
this
report.