Boeing: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
Summary
TLDRThe script is a scathing commentary on Boeing's decline from being a reputable aircraft manufacturer to prioritizing profits over safety. It dissects the company's cultural shift after its merger with McDonnell Douglas, leading to cost-cutting measures, outsourcing, and a stock-price-driven approach that compromised quality control and transparency. The disastrous consequences of these decisions are highlighted through the 737 Max crashes, which exposed Boeing's negligence in informing pilots about a flawed safety system. The script calls for accountability, questioning the effectiveness of regulatory oversight while urging Boeing to rectify its tarnished reputation through genuine leadership and a renewed commitment to safety.
Takeaways
- 😬 Boeing's reputation for quality and safety has deteriorated due to prioritizing profits and stock prices over engineering excellence.
- 💸 Cost-cutting measures like outsourcing production and reducing R&D budgets compromised the safety of planes like the 787 Dreamliner and 737 MAX.
- 💥 The 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 were caused by a flawed MCAS system that Boeing failed to properly inform pilots about.
- 🐪 Boeing's acquisition of McDonnell Douglas in the 1990s brought a more profit-driven and cutthroat culture that clashed with Boeing's engineer-centered approach.
- 😡 Internal messages revealed Boeing employees mocking regulators, the company, and safety issues with the 737 MAX.
- 🙈 The FAA heavily relied on Boeing's self-certification of its planes, leading to lax oversight and missed safety issues.
- 💰 Boeing prioritized stock buybacks and dividends over safety investments, diverting 92% of operating cash flow to investors from 2014 to 2018.
- 👨✈️ Production line workers raised concerns about rushed production and safety compromises but were often ignored by management.
- 🔄 Despite recent crashes and issues, Boeing's leadership has remained largely unchanged, casting doubt on their ability to enact meaningful cultural reforms.
- 💭 Public trust in Boeing has eroded, with passengers actively avoiding flying on certain Boeing models due to safety concerns.
Q & A
What was the main issue with the Boeing 737 MAX planes that led to two fatal crashes?
-The main issue was with the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), which could push the plane's nose down on its own based on data from a single sensor. This system was not properly explained to pilots, and it could be activated erroneously, leading to the crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302.
What cultural shift occurred at Boeing after its merger with McDonnell Douglas?
-After the merger, the McDonnell Douglas culture, which was more cutthroat and profit-driven, became dominant at Boeing. The company started prioritizing stock buybacks and dividends for investors over investing in research and development or safety.
What issues were found during the production of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner?
-Boeing outsourced much of the Dreamliner's production to suppliers to cut costs, leading to issues with misaligned parts, incorrectly secured fasteners, and gaps between units. The plane's unveiling in 2007 was also revealed to be a sham, with the displayed model being just an empty shell.
How did Boeing's relationship with the FAA contribute to the 737 MAX issues?
-Boeing was allowed to use its own employees as FAA-designated inspectors to certify the planes' airworthiness, creating a conflict of interest. The FAA also heavily relied on Boeing's analysis of the MAX's safety, lacking the ability to effectively analyze much of the company's data.
What were some of the damning internal messages revealed about Boeing's awareness of the MCAS issues?
-Internal messages showed that Boeing knew about the dangers of MCAS throughout the MAX's development. One test pilot failed to recover from an MCAS activation in a simulator, calling it 'catastrophic.' Another employee described the plane as 'designed by clowns, who in turn are supervised by monkeys.'
What recent issue with the 737 MAX has raised further safety concerns?
-In August 2022, the FAA warned that using the engine anti-icing system on the MAX for more than 5 minutes could cause the engine housing to shatter, potentially leading to decompression and loss of control. Pilots are now using Post-it notes and timers as reminders to turn off the system.
What changes have been made to address Boeing's safety issues?
-Congress passed legislation rolling back some of Boeing's ability to oversee its own planes, and the FAA has demanded Boeing come up with a plan to address safety concerns within 90 days. However, concerns remain about the company's commitment to change under its current leadership.
How did Boeing's focus on stock prices and cost-cutting impact safety?
-Boeing diverted 92% of its operating cash flow from 2014 to 2018 towards stock buybacks and dividends, far exceeding its spending on R&D for new planes. This focus on cost-cutting and pleasing investors led to rushed production and compromised safety measures.
What was the issue with the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) on the 737 MAX?
-MCAS could push the plane's nose down based on data from a single sensor, which could be faulty or activated erroneously. Pilots were not properly informed about MCAS or trained to handle such situations, contributing to the crashes.
How did Boeing's reputation for safety and quality change over time?
-Boeing was once renowned for its commitment to safety, quality, and craftsmanship, with a culture of openness and attention to detail. However, after the McDonnell Douglas merger and increased focus on profits, the company's reputation suffered as safety concerns mounted.
Outlines
✈️ Passengers Recount Terrifying Flight Incident
The main story is about a recent incident on an Alaskan Airlines flight where a door plug became dislodged, causing a gush of air and panic among passengers. The plane, which was relatively new, landed safely but experts say it was mostly luck as a passenger could have been sucked out at takeoff or catastrophic injuries could have occurred at cruising altitude. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun took responsibility but gave an unclear explanation about a 'quality escape' that allowed an unsafe plane to fly.
🔄 Boeing's Cultural Shift After McDonnell Douglas Merger
The paragraph discusses how Boeing's culture shifted after merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. The McDonnell Douglas management team's profit-driven and cutthroat culture became dominant, with a focus on increasing stock prices rather than quality and safety. Boeing relocated its headquarters away from the commercial plane operations, prioritized stock buybacks over R&D, and introduced slogans like 'less family, more team,' signaling a shift away from its engineer-centered open culture.
💸 Cost-Cutting and Outsourcing for the 787 Dreamliner
The paragraph explores Boeing's cost-cutting measures and outsourcing strategy for the 787 Dreamliner project. To reduce costs, Boeing slashed R&D budgets, outsourced production to numerous suppliers, and aimed to develop the plane for less than half the cost of previous models. This led to quality issues, communication challenges, and a plywood mock-up being passed off as the real Dreamliner at the unveiling ceremony. The plane was delivered years late and billions over budget.
⚠️ The Flawed 737 MAX and the MCAS System
The paragraph details the development of Boeing's 737 MAX jet and the flawed MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System) that contributed to two deadly crashes. To compete with Airbus, Boeing rushed the MAX's design and production, cutting corners and failing to adequately inform pilots about MCAS, which could force the plane's nose down based on a single faulty sensor reading. Pilots were given minimal training on iPads, and Boeing initially dismissed concerns about MCAS after the first crash.
🕵️ Lack of Regulatory Oversight and Boeing's Self-Regulation
The paragraph discusses the lack of effective oversight from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing's self-regulation practices. The FAA heavily relied on Boeing employees to certify the MAX's safety, and for decades, Boeing used its own 'FAA-designated inspectors' to approve planes, leading to conflicts of interest. Boeing successfully lobbied to reduce government oversight of airplane designs, allowing it to regulate itself even more, while some Boeing inspectors faced pressure to limit safety analysis.
🚨 Boeing's Continued Safety Issues and Need for Change
The paragraph highlights Boeing's ongoing safety issues and the need for fundamental change within the company. Despite the MAX crashes and investigations revealing concerning practices, Boeing continues to face new issues, such as a recent FAA directive about a potential engine housing shattering hazard on the MAX. Boeing's new CEO, Dave Calhoun, claims to prioritize accountability and transparency, but his past leadership role during problematic decisions raises doubts. Whistleblowers argue that new leadership is needed for meaningful change.
🕳️ A Satirical Look at Boeing's Corporate Culture
This paragraph offers a satirical and exaggerated portrayal of Boeing's corporate culture and priorities. Through a series of humorous statements, it mocks Boeing's focus on stock prices over safety, its cost-cutting measures, lack of accountability, and the disconnect between its leadership and the realities of plane manufacturing. The satire aims to criticize Boeing's perceived misplaced values and questionable practices that have compromised its reputation.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Boeing
💡737 Max
💡MCAS
💡Stock buybacks
💡Corporate culture
💡Self-regulation
💡Whistleblowers
💡Accountability
💡Reputation
💡Transparency
Highlights
Passengers are sharing their terrifying experience on board an Alaskan Airlines plane that lost a door plug during flights.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun had an odd response when asked about the safety issue: 'How did an unsafe airplane fly in the first place? Because a quality Escape occurred.'
Boeing used to be synonymous with quality and craftsmanship, but its reputation has been tarnished by a series of alarming incidents and prioritizing stock prices over safety.
The merger with McDonald Douglas in 1997 marked a shift towards a more cutthroat and profit-driven culture at Boeing.
Boeing rushed the production of the 787 Dreamliner, outsourcing work to save costs, leading to significant problems and delays.
The 737 Max was developed hastily to compete with Airbus, without proper safety considerations, leading to two fatal crashes.
Boeing concealed key information about the MCAS system from pilots and regulators, contributing to the crashes.
Boeing employees mocked the FAA, the company, and the plane's problems in internal messages, describing it as 'designed by clowns.'
The FAA relied heavily on Boeing employees to vouch for the Max's safety, lacking the ability to effectively analyze Boeing's data.
Boeing successfully lobbied to reduce government oversight of airplane designs, allowing it to regulate itself even more.
Boeing whistleblowers say the company won't change until it has new leadership at the top.
On booking sites, users can now exclude specific Boeing models from their flight searches, indicating a loss of public trust.
The narrator suggests Boeing should advertise the kind of company it has become, prioritizing stock prices over safety and quality.
The narrator satirically rewrites Boeing's marketing slogans to reflect its current practices and priorities.
The transcript highlights the need for fundamental changes at Boeing, including new leadership and a renewed focus on safety and quality over profits.
Transcripts
our main story tonight concerns
airplanes the place you go to say I'll
get some reading done before watching
Nine episodes of The Office you've
already seen and landing in Tucson
planes make many of us nervous even
though commercial air travel is the
safest form of mass transportation but
accidents do happen and there was one
recently that got a lot of attention
passengers are sharing their terrifying
experience on board an Alaskan Airlines
plane that lost a door plug during
flights what was supposed to be a short
trip from Portland to Ontario California
for Garrett Cunningham turned out to be
one of the most frightening experiences
of his life a gush of of air I look to
my left and part of the plane is gone my
brain couldn't compute what I was
looking at yeah of course it couldn't
our minds filter out things that
shouldn't make sense mine for instance
refuses to acknowledge that tomatoes are
fruits or that the shoe Bill isn't
extinct does that really look like
something that should exist at the same
time as the iPad I think not now
thankfully that flight landed safely
with only a few injuries but experts say
that that was mostly luck for one thing
if someone had been sitting in the
window seat with their seat belt off
they could have been sucked out of the
plane and second this happened just
after takeoff but if they'd been at
cruising altitude injuries might have
been catastrophic and that plane was
almost new it had been delivered by the
manufacturer Boeing around 2 months
earlier and that's too soon for a
sneaker to fall apart let alone a
multi-million dollar aircraft now Boeing
CEO Dave Calhoun was quick to take
responsibility saying Boeing is
accountable but when pressed on exactly
what had taken place had an odd response
how did an unsafe airplane fly in the
first
place because a quality Escape
occurred can you qu Escape occur what is
a quality
Escape I think that's the description of
what people are finding in their
inspections um uh anything that could
potentially contribute to an accident
what quality didn't escape a part of the
plane did that's a terrible answer when
you asked how an unsafe plane flew in
the first place we need more information
than essentially the plane was unsafe
yeah everybody knows that there's a
hole in the side of it and the
exact nature of the Escape is pretty
alarming given that according to the
preliminary investigation four bolts
that were supposed to keep the door plug
in place were missing and when Alaska
checked their other max9 planes they
found loose bolts on many of them the
next day the FAA announced that every
Boeing 7379 Max with a plug door would
be grounded until they were inspected
which is a bit of a relief and honestly
kind of a fun image i' like to imagine
Stern FAA inspectors going up to each
plane and saying you are grounded Missy
no inflight TV for a month and yes
planes are girls cuz think about it they
always have snacks and constantly say
leaving right now and then don't move
for another 15
minutes case closed it's beginning to
feel like this might be a much broader
issue within Boeing because it comes on
the heels of a years long string of
alarming incidents from fires on board
to a pair of massive crashes that were
blamed on flawed Boeing planes and just
this week the FAA issued a stunning
order to the company the Federal
Aviation Administration gave Boeing 90
days now to come up with a plan to
address safety issues this comes after a
report released on Monday found
employees did not understand their role
in safety and they feared retaliation
for raising safety related concerns uh
those are big problems when you've got a
factory that is making Jets yeah of
course although to be fair workers being
unable to raise safety concerns is a big
problem in a factory that makes anything
no one wants grocery stores selling
Captain Crunch oops all rat poison and
all of this is striking for a company
that genuinely used to be seen as one of
the greatest in America and that's still
one of the country's largest exporters
so if a company this big and this
important seems to be this troubled
tonight let's talk about Boeing and
let's start with the fact the Boeing
used to be synonymous with quality and
craftsmanship it was founded by William
Boeing in 1916 and over the years it
built nearly 100,000 planes for the
Allied Forces the first stage of the
Satin five rocket and Air Force One but
they're best known for revolutionizing
commercial aviation in 1967 Boeing
introduced the 737 have made over 10,000
of them since and the company's success
rests heavily on its well-earned
reputation for excellence like in this
video from an annual shareholder meeting
the first step in making a difference is
believing you can we make the impossible
happen on a regular basis so it can be
done you you just have to think of a new
way to do it let's just do it right
whatever it is quality safety
environment do it right and make it
something that you can be proud of I
wanted to develop products that had a
global reach and a global
impact and I'm doing it
[Music]
now I mean that sounds pretty good we do
the impossible great love the impossible
let's just do it right yes let's Wrong
Feels Like a bad way to do it I want to
develop a globally impactful product and
I did good for you you're a little too
close to the camera but in general I am
on board in fact Boe had such a great
reputation for safety among Pilots there
was even a common saying if it ain't Boe
I ain't going which the company put on
T-shirts lanyards and mugs that you can
still buy on their website all perfect
gifts for someone who loves branded
merch and does not love following the
news and that Stellar reputation has
been credited to the company's engineer
centered open culture William Boeing
himself once said after noticing some
shoddy workmanship on his production
line that he would close up shop rather
than send out work of this kind and one
project leader in the 80s and early 90s
is remembered for saying no secrets and
the only thing that will make me rip off
your head and down your neck is
withholding information and I'm sorry
but that should be the mug you want a
shift merch that's how you do it but
it's pretty clear that we're a long way
from that culture today and most
observers will trace the shift back to
this pivotal event a major announcement
today in the world of Aviation Boeing
and McDonald Douglas today announced
they would joined together to form the
world's largest aircraft manufacturer
this is I believe a an historic
moment in aviation and
Aerospace yeah the sky boys got business
married Boeing merged with McDonald
Douglas who were primarily known for
military planes and had a lousy
reputation for commercial airliners most
notably the dc10 which had multiple
accidents resulting in over 1100
passenger fatalities and look was
merging with the McDonald Douglas
Aerospace Manufacturing Corporation SL
murder Emporium that Boeing CEO's worst
decision probably not because he also
and this is true married his first
cousin so the last decision I'd ask this
guy to make is who it's a good idea to
couple up
with and while Boeing was the acquirer
in the partnership it soon became clear
that the McDonald Douglas culture which
was much more Cutthroat and profit
driven was going to become dominant
early on the McDonald Douglas management
team even gave their Boeing counterparts
a plaque featuring an Economist magazine
cover about the challenges of corporate
merges which sounds benign until you see
that the actual cover was this picture
of two camels and McDonald
Douglas exec added the line who's on top
and setting aside the weirdness of
gifting your co-workers camel porn it
begs the the question what was going on
at the economist back
then spare a thought for the employee
who dreamt of doing business journalism
only to find themselves digging through
photos of horned up camel banging
in the
dirt a year after the merger was
finalized boing announced a new stock
buyback program taking company money
that could have gone to making planes
and using it to inflate stock prices
instead and even mechanics at the
company noticed the culture shift there
is a m major campaign launched called
Share value and the idea was that they
wanted everybody to be aware of the
stock price and they wanted everybody
working together to increase the stock
value even the technical meetings
everything revolved around boing stock
prices yeah that's not reassuring
because that's not where you want their
priorities focused no wants to get on a
plane and he good afternoon this is your
captain speaking we had a few technical
problems but our maintenance crew is has
assured us that the stock price is still
holding strong so let's get this big
metal tube full of you and your loved
ones up into the sky shall we and the
culture change was solidified by the
decision to relocate the corporate
headquarters from Seattle where their
commercial planes were actually designed
and built 2,000 miles away to Chicago
because as their CEO put it when the
headquarters is located in proximity to
a principal business the Corporate
Center is inevitably drawn into
day-to-day business operations and yeah
it should be you're essentially saying
hey we're going to be making big
business decisions over here so we don't
need to be bothered with you nerds and
you're keeping planes in the air
now CEO Phil conit soon left
the company amid a Contracting Scandal
and was replaced by Harry Stoner the
former CEO of McDonald Douglas he was an
aggressive Cost Cutter who pushed
boing's management to play tougher with
its Workforce and to introduce the
slogan less family more team which
frankly would have been great advice for
Phil Condit when he was choosing a
romantic partner less Family Phil you
want to be a team but like not one
that's related by
blood but the problems with the whole
stock price first approach soon became
apparent during the production of the
787 Dreamliner it was a new lighter
plane the Boeing announced in 2004 but
Stone Cipher drastically cut the R&D
budget you know the money for creating
the plane even as the company authorized
large stock BuyBacks and dividends for
investors under his plans the Dreamliner
would be de developed for less than half
of what their previous new plane had
cost Bo also sought savings by
Outsourcing production to about 50
suppliers each of whom was responsible
for managing its own subcontractor so
basically the plan was for boing to
create the plane the same way someone
creates a gingerbread house from a kit
essentially assembling a bunch of pieces
other people made leading to a finished
product that structurally speaking was
always going to be a mess and
years later Boeing itself produced a
promotional video that admitted that
plan was a
Fasco executing a project of such
complexity proved to be more than some
suppliers could
handle wrinkles were found in the
composite skins from one supplier
Fasteners were incorrectly secured on
sections of the tail there were gaps
between units that were supposed to fit
tightly together we had our partners and
then they had Partners who had partners
and the different cultures and the
communication uh was very challenging
and added a lot of complexity you know
it's never a great sign when you're
talking about the manufacturing process
for a plane the same way a doomed open
thropple talks about their private life
we had our partners and then they had
Partners who had partners and
communication was very challenging and
added a lot of complexity and long story
short now we all have
chlamidia and on top of that Stone
Cipher was forced to resign in the wake
of an affair with a Boeing VP and was
replaced by the company's third CEO in
as many years Jim McNerney who if
anything accelerated the cost cutting
but despite all the setbacks from
Outsourcing Boeing managed to roll out
the dream liner on time in an elaborate
ceremony in 2007 except there was one
small catch we were all inside the
factory with artificial lighting big
stage Tom brocca huge
screens
then they open the doors of this giant
assembly Bay and en rolls this beautiful
beautiful aircraft we learned that the
whole thing was a
sham beautiful isn't it absolutely
beautiful I realized the doors were made
of plywood this plan that we were
admiring was completely a shell inside
what I realized walking around it is
that you could you know look up in the
wheel well and you could see daylight
wow what a historic moment so exciting
to see the unveiling of the first
airplane made entirely out of plywood
and lies the plane was supposed to take
its first test flight within two months
of that launch but unsurprisingly that
didn't happen in fact the Dreamliner
didn't carry commercial passengers for
years finally delivering planes three
years late and $25 billion over budget
and almost immediately there were
problems multiple planes had fires on
board including two in Boston and Japan
within 9 days of each other which
investigations link to a defective
battery made by a subcontractor that
Boeing had never audited so the FAA
grounded the Dreamliner the first time
it had grounded an airplane model since
the mcdonal Douglas dc10 in 1979 again
making it pretty clear that the wrong
attitude had prevailed after the merger
basically the wrong camel came out on
top and investigations revealed that
even people people building the
Dreamliner were worried about its safety
in 2014 aler released hidden camera
footage of a worker at a Dreamliner
plant asking fellow employees a pretty
pointed question did you fly one um no
you won't fly on
one did you fly on one of these
planes did you fly on one of
these probably not I would one of these
ples you wouldn't why wouldn't you huh
why wouldn't you because I see the
quality vide going down around here did
you fly one of these yeah it's sketchy
sketchy I probably would but I mean I a
death
too it's
true out of 15 workers he asked 10 said
they wouldn't fly on that plane and
honestly that last guy is almost worse
because if I had to pick between a plane
that two-thirds of workers refuse to get
on and one that would only be ridden by
death wish Dave I'd pick the former
every time but while the Dreamliner had
its problems at least it never had a
fatal accident but that cannot be said
for Boeing's next plane the 737 Max in
2011 as Boeing was rolling out the
Dreamliner its main competitor Airbus
was unveiling the A320 Neo a fuel
efficient update of their already
popular A320 planes and it was a wild
success Boeing caught completely off
guard quickly announced a new fuel
efficient plane it hadn't even
engineered yet the 737 Max they wanted
to get it out of the door as quickly and
as cheaply as possible McNerney even had
a catchphrase More For Less which became
the company's driving theme as it
embarked on the Max and all the while
under McNerney and his successor as CEO
Dennis mullenberg boing continued to
sign off on massive stock BuyBacks from
2014 to 2018 Boeing diverted 92% of its
operating cash flow to dividends and
share BuyBacks to benefit investors far
exceeding the money that it spent on R&D
for new planes workers on the production
line for the max described a process
that valued speed over safety and one a
military veteran worried that Corners
were being cut what words would you use
to describe that Factory at that point
dangerous um unnecessary Tak an
unnecessary risk he says he urged the
Boeing manager to shut down the factory
for a few weeks to straighten things out
and what was his reaction to that and he
said um you know we can't shut down and
and then I kind of got mad and said you
know I've seen military operations shut
down for a lot less what was his reply
to that something I'll never forget he
said um he said well the military is not
a profit Mak
organization wow what a response because
in a way you're right the military isn't
a profit-driven culture but they do have
pretty famously a very high appetite for
death and dest ruction so if someone who
worked there is going who slow down a
bit that seems like something that
should give you pause so the max was
rushed through design and production and
with tragic consequences on October 29th
2018 a Lion Air flight Bound for
Indonesia carrying 189 people including
three children disappeared from radar
just minutes after takeoff and was found
to have crashed into the water no one on
board survived investigations later
revealed that the plane's safety had
been compromised by a series of
shortsighted decisions Boeing had made
starting with the fact that to save
money Boeing decided it wasn't going to
build a new plane it was just going to
rapidly modify its existing 737 model
giving it new much bigger engines but
that brought some significant
complications because these engines are
bigger they had to be positioned further
forward and higher up on the wings and
so Boeing was worried about the plane
getting into uh too much of a nose up
and then the plane could
stall so if it starts to pitch up mcast
was designed to help the pilot level the
plane out yeah they added a system
called mcass or maneuvering
characteristics augmentation system very
basically when the plane came close to a
situation in which it might stall mcass
would in technical terms swivel the
horizontal tail fin to lift the tail up
and push the nose down or in
non-technical terms make the go face
down ass up but there was a fatal flaw
mcass which again could push a plane's
nose down on its own could be activated
by a single sensor the angle of AAG
sensors protruded out of either side the
fuselage near the
cockpit if a happy birthday myar balloon
gets stuck on that vein it becomes
unreliable but believe it or not we hit
balloons we hit H Birds uh and all of
these things uh are not
uncommon it's true the whole system
could be compromised by a balloon a
testament to how problematic it is to
use a single sensor and yet another
reason to hate balloons think about it
they're exhausting to inflate they scare
the out of you when they pop and
uninflated they just look like a pile of
clown condoms balloons are terrible but
it gets worse cuz Boeing didn't tell
Pilots about mcass cuz remember they
decided to market the plane 2 Airlines
as a money saver and a massive selling
point was that the max wouldn't require
Pilots to be retrained in a flight
simulator that that's a pretty big
expense for an airline as it takes
Pilots out of the air for multiple days
Boeing was worried that if they
emphasized mcass as something new it
might require more training so it told
Airlines and Regulators that the max was
so similar to the old 737 simulator
training wouldn't be necessary and that
is something even the mother of one of
the Lion Air Pilots whose flight crashed
thought was a bit weird at the time I
said you haven't had a simulator
training how can you go for Max and it
is a more powerful engine so without a
simulator how will you manage he said
mom I've been given round training they
have given me a training on iPad I said
what an iPad that is wild it is bad
enough that iPads are replacing half the
staff at Panera
breit it is worse when they're replacing
practical training for dangerous jobs
Boeing gave Pilots a 2hour iPad training
course that never once mentioned mcass
what's more it wasn't in the manual at
all unless you count the glossery which
defined the term but didn't explain what
it did and it turned out that a faulty
mcast activation was what had doomed
that Lion Air flight and when American
Airlines Pilots met with Boeing
Executives after the crash and angrily
pointed out no no one had been told
about mcast the answer they got was
ridiculous these guys didn't even know
the damn system was on the airplane nor
did anybody else we try not to overload
the crews with information it's
unnecessary I would think that there
would be a priority on putting things
explanations of things that could kill
you
exactly how is information about a
system that could crash the plane
unnecessary it's not all Froot Loops are
the same flavor or identical twins don't
have the same fingerprints or if you
give a mirror to a dolphin they'll
admire their own genitals all of that is
good information but unnecessary for a
pilot to know but we put some software
on the plane that might try and murder
you feels important in the aftermath of
the crash Boeing told us airline pilot
that they'd have a software fix for
mcass ready within about 6 weeks and the
max was allowed to keep flying but they
didn't the only thing they accomplished
in those six weeks were and you're never
going to believe this authoriz ing a
record $20 billion of stock BuyBacks so
clearly they were concerned about safety
specifically the safety of their
stock price and so a little over four
months after the crash while Boeing was
still working on its six week software
fix Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 a 737
maxjet crashed after mcass activated
erroneously again killing everyone on
board and by that point those Pilots
knew what mcass was but they still
weren't able to correct its erroneous
activation in time 3 days later the FAA
finally grounded the max but only after
all these countries had first it was
grounded for almost two years until
Boeing developed ways to make mcass less
error prone and easier to override and a
damning congressional investigation
later revealed internal messages showing
that Boeing knew how dangerous mcass was
throughout the plane's development in
2012 one of Boeing's own test pilots had
failed to recover from mcass activating
in a flight s simulator a situation that
he described as catastrophic and some of
the messages between Boeing Employees
were damning hundreds of emails and
instant messages show employees mocking
the FAA the company and problems with
the airplane one writing this airplane
is designed by clowns who in turn are
supervised by
monkeys that's pretty bad although part
of me wish is that he kept going there
they're designed by clowns who are
supervised by monkeys who report to
caffeinated toddlers who overseen by a
bunch of floppy puppies were monitored
by a wasted bachelorette party whose
boss is just a large inflatable
tubean so at this point you might
reasonbly be asking where the are
The Regulators should the FAA have
caught this before people died and given
that the answer to that is definitely
yes what happened well the agency relied
heavily on Boeing Employees to vouch for
the Maxi safety because they lacked the
ability to effectively analyze much of
what Boeing shared about their new plane
one employee even said he thought a
presentation for Regulators was like
dogs watching TV because they didn't
understand what they were seeing and I
really hope that's not true I hope dogs
do understand what they're watching on
TV otherwise I did those deep Dives on
squirrels breathing out of a up
little nose and poodle anuses for no
reason at all and incredibly much of the
oversight was being done by Boeing
itself for five decades uh manufacturers
like Boeing were allowed to use what
they call FAA designated inspectors
first to certify that the planes were
airworthy in the beginning and then on
the assembly line to inspect each plane
as it went down went down the line
here's the problem those FAA inspectors
were employed by Boeing there's a
conflict of interest there of course
there is Boeing was paying Boeing
Employees to regulate Boeing it's the
most incestuous relationship we've seen
in this story so far which is saying
something cuz remember this guy was
his first cousin
and while this system of self-regulation
has been in place for decades it was
supercharged from 2005 onwards after
Boeing successfully lobbied to reduce
government oversight of airplane designs
basically allowing it to regulate itself
even more and unsurprisingly several of
these Boeing employed representatives of
the FAA have said they faced heavy
pressure from managers to limit safety
analysis and testing so the company
could meet its schedule and keep down
costs at every point along the way the
FAA either delegated responsibility to
Boeing or gave them the benefit of the
doubt which hopefully they will never do
again because Boeing like so many
American companies seems to be coasting
on a reputation it built up over decades
even as it squanders it quarter by
quarter and if you're thinking hey John
don't you work for a Prestige company
that got taken over and had the name Max
slapped on its signature product hey I
don't know what you're talking about the
situation is completely
different new business daddy is so mad
at us all the time so what now well the
truth is Boeing's not going out of
business anytime soon it's one of just
two major commercial airplane
manufacturers in the world so we don't
need them to disappear we need them to
get better the key question is can they
fundamentally change well thanks in part
to pressure from the families who lost
loved ones in those crashes Congress did
passed by partisan legislation rolling
back some of Boeing's ability to oversee
its own planes and it's encouraging that
the FAA is now insisting Boeing come up
with a plan to address safety in 90 days
though we'll see what that brings and
Boeing will say it knows that it's made
mistakes in the past but that under the
leadership of their CEO Dave Calhoun You
Know M quality Escape they are
approaching the challenges they
currently face with a new spirit of
accountability and complete transparency
but it's really hard to trust that given
that Calhoun served on Boeing's board
since 2009 through many of the worst
decisions you've seen tonight and
there's also the fact that 737 Max 8 and
9 planes are still flying despite an FAA
directive last August highlighting a
serious new issue warning that if pilots
on the max used an engine anti-icing
system what One Pilot described to us as
the equivalent of a car's back
windshield defogger in dry air for more
than 5 minutes it could shatter the
engine's housing causing a hazard to
window passengers decompression and
potential loss of control of the
airplane and while Calhoun claims he's
very confident they'll have a fix which
is such great news in the meantime
Boeing is asking Pilots once more to be
the last line of defense one that we
spoke to even sent us a photo of this
Post-It note he uses in his cockpit to
remind him to turn off the anti-icing
system along with an iPhone timer and
that is too much pressure for a
Post-It note they shouldn't be the last
line of defense against plane crashes
they should be the the last line of
defense against Sheila from marketing
eating your chabani out of the work
fridge Boeing whistleblowers who want
this company to get better have
repeatedly said it won't change until it
has new leadership and Boeing may not be
able to Coast on its reputation much
longer as demonstrated by the fact that
on booking sites like kayak you can use
this menu to select specific Boeing
models and exclude them from your flight
search they've actually moved that
filter up the page following a spike in
usage and you know things are bad when
the general public is getting this
knowledgeable about specific play models
look it is pretty clear something has to
change at Boeing and it has to be at the
top of that company because if you are
truly too big to fail that should mean
that you are big enough to spend the
time and resources required to fix the
culture that you have destroyed and in
the meantime the very least you can do
is advertise the kind of company you are
in a much more accurate
way at Boeing we make the impossible
happen on a regular basis at Boeing we
take pride in our work at Boeing
we sorry can can you back the uh camera
up a little bit really
close at Boeing we I'm sorry it's ve it
feels very
tight at Boeing we believe the first
step in making a difference is believing
you can and I'm not talking about any
difference I'm talking about a positive
difference in share price the share
price needs to go up and stay up like
our planes do almost all of the time
since it's founding Boeing's been built
on quality safety and trust and then we
thought let's try something new I joined
Boeing because I wanted to invent things
no one ever dreamed of and they told me
if I wanted to do that what I needed was
to invent a time machine to
1992 I did tell him that and I think the
joke landed like our planes do almost
all of the time whatever it is we do at
Boeing let's do it right or let's do it
close enough to right that no one can
tell the difference from the outside and
then everyone will just keep their mouth
shut the engineers don't always agree
with our business decisions and we
encourage them to speak up and when they
do I usually say what I can't hear you
our offices are so far from
Seattle airplane design is about
Precision Care attention to detail and
then someone telling you to work so
quickly you make the whole thing
vulnerable to a balloon we like
to cultivate a profit-driven philosophy
here at Boeing and we've got the camel
porn to prove it who's on top we are
look man I'm doing what I can I try to
report everything I see to the FAA see
that there's a boat missing here so I'm
going to report
it at Boeing we oh hold on on get a
text yeah yeah wait you work for the FAA
yeah I do the faa's job but I actually
work for Boeing it's super allowed it's
super allowed oh apparently there's a
bolt missing it's fine do you even know
how many bolts there are on an airplane
too many you lose one or two that's
surrounding error the boys on the
factory floor call me Usain cuz I'm all
about the ball
also because I work really fast like
scary fast like people should be scared
about how fast I work is it okay if I
take these home quality is at the
Forefront of everything we do at Boeing
and sometimes it's so far in front that
it escapes whoops quality come back get
back here
you I'm not sure I'd want to get on one
of these planes oh I definitely wouldn't
get own
one I I would yeah but that's different
because you have the a Death Wish thing
yeah the the Death Wish thing mhm we're
Bo and we're focused on the important
things raising stock prices increasing
stock prices making stock prices bigger
or elevating stock prices delivering
value to shareholders at any and all
human
cost boing we went to business school
get on our
[Applause]
plane
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)
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