Boeing CEO David Calhoun defended the company’s aircraft during meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.
Working to repair the company’s flawed reputation after several high-profile incidents involving its aircraft raised safety concerns, Calhoun told reporters he’s confident in the planes in the air.
“We fly safe planes,” Calhoun told MSNBC as he was walking into a meeting, one of several with senators. “We don’t put airplanes in the air that we don’t have 100% confidence in.”
Calhoun met with Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA); Boeing is headquartered in their home state of Virginia. The CEO met with members of the Commerce Committee, including Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA). Alaska Airlines is an American airline headquartered in Seattle.
“Constructive, shared everything I could — understands the gravity of the situation,” Calhoun told reporters of his meetings on Capitol Hill. “We’re gonna make sure that we convey our message and all the work that we’re doing in our faith and our people and our airplanes.”
After meeting with Calhoun, Cantwell told reporters, “I will be holding hearings to investigate the root causes of these safety lapses.”
Boeing has been navigating through turmoil fueled by an Alaska Airlines plane door plug blowing out mid-air earlier this month. Several minutes after departing Portland, Oregon, a window panel blew out on a Boeing 737-9 Max, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the aircraft and prompting an emergency landing at the departed airport. Following the Jan. 6 incident, the Federal Aviation Administration grounded dozens of Boeing 737-9 Max airplanes while Alaska Airlines grounded its entire fleet amid an ongoing investigation.
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Several other incidents have exacerbated the public crisis as recently as Saturday. A Delta flight from Atlanta, operating on a Boeing 757 aircraft, was taxiing for departure when a nose gear tire came off.
On Jan. 13, a flight of Japan’s All Nippon Airways was forced to turn back to its departure airport after a crack was discovered in a cockpit window of the Boeing 737.
