Seattle attorney on Boeing CEO: ‘His days were numbered as soon as that door plug blew out’
Mar 26, 2024, 6:13 AM
Boeing CEO David Calhoun announced to resign from Boeing at the end of 2024. (Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
Responding to Boeing’s announcement over several leadership changes, Seattle Attorney Mark Lindquist, who is currently representing 27 passengers aboard the 787 MAX-9 jet that suffered the door plug blow-out, said the company needed to go even further.
“If Boeing wants to return to engineering excellence, if Boeing wants to rebuild their brand, Boeing needs to clean house,” Lindquist, who specializes in cases involving aviation and personal injury, told KIRO Newsradio.
He said the only thing that surprised him about the decision of CEO David Calhoun to resign was that it took him so long to make the announcement.
More on Boeing’s leadership changes: Boeing CEO, president step down amid company turbulence
“His days were numbered as soon as that door plug blew out at 16,000 feet and endangered 178 lives,” Lindquist said. “That incident alone should have been enough to cost him his job.”
Lindquist said he doesn’t understand why Calhoun will stay with the company through the end of the year.
“There’s no reason to believe Mr. Calhoun is now going to do, in the next few months, what he has failed to do over the last five years,” Lindquist said.
Captain Dennis Tajer is a pilot with American Airlines and flies a Boeing 737 MAX. He told CBS News he flies at a heightened state because of all the issues with the jetliner.
“Your vision gets clouded when the dollars start stacking up,” he said. “Boeing’s problems didn’t just start happening the last several months. It’s been decades in the making.”
Also, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary released a statement praising the decision of Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Stan Deal to retire immediately.
More from Lisa Brooks: Vet clinic for low-income, homeless had ambulance ‘trashed, stripped of equipment’
“Ryanair welcomes (the) management changes,” O’Leary said. “Stan Deal has done a great sales job for Boeing for many years, but he’s not the person to turn around the operation in Seattle, and that’s where most of the problems have been in recent years.”
Boeing has about 60 days left of a 90-day order from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to come up with an improvement plan.
You can read more of Lisa Brooks’ stories here. Follow Lisa on X, formerly known as Twitter, or email her here.
Follow @http://twitter.com/KiroLisa
