Boeing fires top boss Muilenburg over failure to deal with 737 MAX crisis

[riscol]

US planemaker Boeing has replaced its CEO Dennis Muilenburg after the company faced a series of setbacks following two fatal crashes of its best-selling aircraft, the 737 MAX, which killed 346 people.

David Calhoun will replace Muilenburg, the company said in a statement on Monday. Calhoun officially takes over on January 13.

The US aerospace giant explained that the step was “necessary to restore confidence” in the firm as it struggles to restore trust of investors, clients, and aviation regulators.

"Under the Company's new leadership, Boeing will operate with a renewed commitment to full transparency, including effective and proactive communication with the FAA, other global regulators and its customers," Boeing's press release reads.

The US Federal Aviation Administration ordered the grounding of all 737 MAX models in March, grudgingly following the lead of countries around the world after the fatal crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 killed 157 people. Five months earlier, a 737 MAX of Indonesia’s Lion Air crashed in the same manner, killing 189 passengers and crew.

Since then, almost 400 MAX jets have been stuck on the ground, and Boeing has manufactured 400 more, which it cannot deliver to customers anywhere. The FAA review is still ongoing, amid a number of revelations suggesting that flaws with the MAX’s control software were long known to the company and its test pilots.

Muilenburg became CEO of the aerospace giant in July 2015. Earlier this year he was stripped of the chairman title as Boeing decided to separate the two roles and David Calhoun took over the position.

https://www.rt.com/business/476679-boeing-fires-ceo-dennis-muilenburg/

 

[PakFactor]

Well this is not the only issue — I was able to find out few months before the news broke that the programmers for this particular and other Boeing planes were from HCL (Hindustan Communication Limited) they used new graduates at $ 9/hr to program the planes flight control systems among other avionics devices. I would also like to mention some of those same programmers are also working on Air Bus as well — so good luck whoever flies. Lol

 

[Wood]

Well this is not the only issue — I was able to find out few months before the news broke that the programmers for this particular and other Boeing planes were from HCL (Hindustan Communication Limited) they used new graduates at $ 9/hr to program the planes flight control systems among other avionics devices. I would also like to mention some of those same programmers are also working on Air Bus as well — so good luck whoever flies. Lol

Do you think that 737 Max is the only fight that employed Indians at $9 an hour to help build the software? Both Airbus and Boeing have Indians writing and testing code via outsourced contractors before and after the 737Max fiasco. No matter which plane you want to fly on, there is a guarantee that some sub systems in the craft have been outsourced to Indian companies. Will you stop flying because of it?

 

[Trailer23]

You know what's really funny is the Chief Test Pilot for the B737-Max is currently employed by South West Airlines - as First Officer .

 

[jericho]

Well this is not the only issue — I was able to find out few months before the news broke that the programmers for this particular and other Boeing planes were from HCL (Hindustan Communication Limited) they used new graduates at $ 9/hr to program the planes flight control systems among other avionics devices. I would also like to mention some of those same programmers are also working on Air Bus as well — so good luck whoever flies. Lol

Yup, this was reported, but i didnt know they are working on airbus
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ax-software-outsourced-to-9-an-hour-engineers

 

[khail007]

Do you think that 737 Max is the only fight that employed Indians at $9 an hour to help build the software? Both Airbus and Boeing have Indians writing and testing code via outsourced contractors before and after the 737Max fiasco. No matter which plane you want to fly on, there is a guarantee that some sub systems in the craft have been outsourced to Indian companies. Will you stop flying because of it?

IMO, first of all, like hardware the software developer should also to be regulated/authorised by existing or newly formulated body under international supervision.
Secondly, the so lowered rates of software development also to be revised depending upon the targeted use of software. Boeing is earning millions/billions from their products so at least they should pay justified amount to those who are behind the curtains and associated to the success of business.
I am not expert on that, but what if the code to be copyrighted like intellectual rights and also to be licensed to use on the range of machine/equipment like Microsoft is doing for their operating system.
Hope proper QA, international regulation justified returns could improve the situation for everyone involved.

 

[Enigma SIG]

They just needed a scapegoat who mind you has a golden parachute valued in millions. The board of directors should be fired too as they're the ones really responsible for this fiasco.

 

[Wood]

IMO, first of all, like hardware the software developer should also to be regulated/authorised by existing or newly formulated body under international supervision.
Secondly, the so lowered rates of software development also to be revised depending upon the targeted use of software. Boeing is earning millions/billions from their products so at least they should pay justified amount to those who are behind the curtains and associated to the success of business.
I am not expert on that, but what if the code to be copyrighted like intellectual rights and also to be licensed to use on the range of machine/equipment like Microsoft is doing for their operating system.
Hope proper QA, international regulation justified returns could improve the situation for everyone involved.

I agree with you in sentiment, but it is next to impossible to expect publicly listed companies to not chase the bottom dollar in cost saving. The shareholders want higher net income year after year; this will naturally lead to cost cutting. China and India (to a lesser degree) have been beneficiaries of this paradigm and I do not see the trend change any time soon.

As for quality control for programmers, the industry does have benchmark certifications. But they are not always reliable. At the end of the day, the cheaper availability of workforce trumps the lack of quality.

 

[Shabi1]

Everyone outsources work these days, its unavoidable. What matters are the quality checks, 737 Max software issue should have been caught before it went into production. Boeing dictated FAA when it was doing the certifications for the jet and alot of things got overlooked. Which is why the extra scrutiny and delays in getting the aircraft re certified. FAA's status as a leading body is at stake because they failed to take action after the first crash but Chinese regulators immediately grounded the jet.

 

[riscol]

From what i understand is that as long China doesn't get the answers it requested from Boeing no 737 Max shall be flying over China. This is more than just a PR issue Boeing is facing and firing Muilenburg isn't going to solve the problem. I think other countries will also follow China's lead.

 

[powastick]

He was fired because he couldn't get those plane back to the sky, not because his planes kill 300 people.