Boeing CEO: Mess Was Already Here When I Clocked In For My Shift
EVERETT, WA – Speaking to reporters from his New Hampshire home, Boeing Chief Executive David Calhoun assured employees, shareholders and the Seattle area community that he had been on lunch break when the current mess happened and it was totally not his fault.
Calhoun, a longtime General Electric executive, joined Boeing’s board in 2009 and was appointed board chairman in 2019. As a board member, Calhoun approved all Boeing’s major strategic decisions for more than a decade, including a massive culture shift that altered the company’s focus as well as the hiring and firing of executive level staff. Calhoun staunchly defended Boeing’s former CEO Dennis Muilenberg’s performance through the company’s crisis after two deadly 737 MAX crashes, publicly avowing in 2019 that [Muilenberg] “has done everything right.”
Calhoun clarified his earlier remarks today however, noting that “My previous responsibilities at Boeing were limited to working the deep fryer, restocking shelves and collecting shopping carts from the parking lot. Mostly afternoons but sometimes on weekends if my jerk boss made me. Sometimes if somebody was sick I did other stuff like changing the light fixtures in the break room, restocking shelves or even working the cash register if we were really busy.”
“When I clocked in to my shift as the new Chief Executive Officer on January 13, I discovered that apparently there was some kind of issue or something where 367 people had died and the company had people totally mad at them,” Calhoun said. “I had been on my lunch break prior to this and was not there. I think the guy who worked there before me was, like, fired? I don’t know his address.”
Calhoun added, “If you have any questions you should talk to my manager, who in a way is the group of tens of millions of Boeing shareholders worldwide. And if you have a retirement plan, that probably includes you. So basically you should just be mad at yourself. Frankly, I would be ashamed if I were you.”