“Being set up for success”

These are words I don’t think come to mind when Dave Calhoun accepted the role of Chief Executive Officer at Boeing.

Quick recap:

2024

January 5, 2024: Boeing under fire after part of a 737 Max's fuselage was blown off mid-flight. In response, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun admitted that the company would have to address its mistakes. The 737 Max is one of Boeing's best-selling aircraft. The incident resulted in 171 aircraft being grounded.

2021

Q1 2021 Boeing charged with 737 Max fraud conspiracy and the US Justice Department orders the company to pay $2.5bn in damages.

2020

December (limited): US commercial Boeing 737 Max flights resume.

2019

March 10, 2019 Boeing 737 Max flown by Ethiopian Airlines crashes six minutes after takeoff near the Ethiopian town of Bishoftu. All 157 people on board declared deceased.

2018

October 29, 2018 Boeing 737 Max flown by Lion Air crashes 13 minutes after takeoff into Java Sea. All 189 people on board declared deceased.

Americans, especially the masses that travel, are usually comforted by Harvard researchers’ stat you have a 1 in 11,000,000 chance of being in an airline-related fatality. That’s versus about 1 in 5,000 chance of an auto-related one.

So here we are, dare I say mid-Q1 of 2024 and public relations work for Boeing is not the most coveted of brand work.

Last month Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary raised his hand, unsolicited, and said, essentially, if that Alaska Airlines door ‘sitch scares you Americans, we’ll take ‘em (the planes, not the people).

That one perk aside, Boeing leadership is feeling the heat. Stay tuned on how this public relations story unfolds, it’s one with many layers.