A former Boeing manager turned whistleblower talks to KIRO 7 News about the safety of 737 MAX jets following the shocking midair blowout of a door plug on a flight out of Portland.
I worked at Boeing for 40+ years. I had the privilege of working with Ed as we developed a maintenance services product for airline customers. I can confirm that Ed’s character is solid. Ed is honest and full of integrity. We should all be grateful he is doing what he is doing.
I feel for the dedicated high-time Boeing employees that had to watch their company degrade from one of the greatest in the world to the incompetent company it is today. Even more sad, it's happening all over America, in business and in politics...
My husband who passed away 4 years ago worked at Boeing, Mesa AZ on the Apache helicopter line. He said the guy that did the final inspections and signed off on each Apache had not been inspecting them and just signing off. It had gone off and on for 3 years! When my husband found out about it they did fire the guy but they had to know this was going on. Just no one wants to do anything like tell management. This had to be 6 or 7 years ago this occurred because like I said, my husband died 4 years ago.
@treaddirt Greetings from far West Texas. In your own opinion, do you believe the move of Corporate World Headquarters from Seattle to Chicago and now Arlington (further and further away from the primary, and majority, manufacturing site has had a detrimental affect on the company as a whole? I remember when the move to Chicago took place. For some reason, at that time, my gut told me : Well, now begins the slow downward decay of another great American industrial icon. Perhaps I'm forgetting other Boeing history, it seems there have been numerous hiccups in various projects since that time. I, for one, sincerely hope Boeing reverses course. Thanks in advance for your reply. PEACE and be well.
@@warped-sliderule Well said. As you will see in my question I presented to @treaddirt, my questions about Boeing's future began way back when it was decided to move World HQ to Chicago. It seems many, shall we say, questionable decisions appeared on the scene thereafter. Case in point : The long drawn out and delayed Dreamliner and the hiccups that ensued shortly after it's launch in to service. Made me wonder if Boeing was taking on a General Motors "development model," i.e. get 'em out there on the road and we'll address the issues as they come. Not an intelligent model to operate under considering the fact that once your 100ft off the ground if you come crashing down you're not likely to survive. Having worked in the transportation sector for a total of 42 years (14yrs in Heavy Duty Trucks/Tractors/28 yrs in automotive) it is apparent the focus is on stock market share price and not on the quality of the product(s) and services provided.
@@burgersbeansandchips yeah, no. Corporations control the state from McDonald's to Uber to Walmart to Facebook. Rideshare drivers earn less than $4 an hour at times. The money makes the rules.
Whistleblowers are probably THE most devoted employees of any organization - they are willing to put their entire lives and careers on the line to expose problems so the organization can take corrective steps to get better.
As a retired airline pilot who flew ONLY Boeing during my whole career (B757-200 and -300, B767-300ER and B747-400 and -8i) and who loves Boeing aircraft, I am thankful for such honest people like Ed Pierson, who speak up and address all problems honestly as they are. Boeing must wake up now and improve, to come back to it´s full strength and potential. There is no way to cut corners. The FAA is a big part of the safety issues and they must change aswell.
The FAA DID "change". The father of "cut Gubment" (who cashed EVERY ONE of his "Gubment" checks) originated the idea that deregulation would 'enable companies to do their own checks'. I remember lots about Reagan. I remember that I liked him until just about his second year as President. It takes years to undo what is already in place. The New Deal was one, another is the conscientious government personnel who do their jobs in infrastructure safety well for decades, eventually replaced by under-trained, under-funded "new blood" - but their presence at Boeing for example, is a fraction of before.
@@gladysvogel9442 thanks too. Actually the Horror around Boeing seems not to end. The very obvious assassination of John Barnett makes me even more speechless and desperate. I feel so sad for John and his family and friends. I know that there will be no crime investigation and even no jurisdiction of this case, because it’s organised crime. Boeing is a mafia company and THE PEOPLE must stop their evilness. God bless and protect all whistleblowers. Rest in peace dear John 🇺🇸💙❤️🤍
That's sad as she could be an exceptionally good aircraft, her concept fits perfectly for so many airlines that she could end up being one of the most successful aircraft of all time. One slightly different point....... her wing design is probably the most beautiful wing since Concorde. Spitfire. Concorde. Dreamliner.
I honestly can't believe Boeing thought they could be the ultimate integrators by outsourcing the complicated components like composite airframe, actuators & electronics in order to distance themselves from liability and higher overhead union payroll. Also relocating their Corp HQ from Seattle to Chicago. Then, a couple years ago they relocated to Arlington Virginia in order to join the other Lobbyist Felchers with the goal of limiting regulations & getting over bloated government contracts. The entire executive board needs to be replaced with engineers, material scientists, mechanics & safety inspectors who have actually worked at Unionized Boeing factories
@@CynthiaPace-n7v Right, because you can't be prosecuted if you leave before the authorities catch you. The Green River Killer got screwed, he should've had you as his lawyer.
Never seen a Manager at a major company maintain this much eye contact. Every word he said was honest. Very few of these execs can do an interview this long and answer every question straight to the point like this man did
I definitely feel the NG fleet was the last of the best engineered 737's the NG's while with computer upgrades and such they still have some of the old Boeing quality which was better these new Max's they are not fit to fly and are not built with stronger designs
@@drewski1535 I agree, although the NG had its developmental problems too, being rushed to market before the bugs were worked out. The first ones had flap and trim problems the engineers couldn't figure out. One of the senior "riggers" figured it out and tried to tell the engineering department how to fix the design flaw but the MRB board blew him off, seeing's how he's just an hourly guy and all. He rigged a few and solved the problem proving he knew what he was talking about. When MRB asked him what the fix was, he basically told them to pound sand. Those 2 little spiral memo pads that he always had in his shirt pocket FULL of know how notes went with him as he retired a few months later. That was before I got laid off in 2000 and the same thing happened at Lockheed Martin, management does not listen to people beneath them. I doubt it'll ever change. The only manager that did was Tom Elliot at the Renton flightline.
He is nervous, probably somehow scared, and brave, but essentially, he is an Engineer. A f* good one. He's what you expect to find in a company like Boeing. Much respect from an Airbus one.
Yet, Southwest is longing thousands of flight hours daily with the the MAX. It’s a good thing you don’t work for Boeing or the NTSB. For context take a long look at all the crashes and incidents surrounding the advent of the Boeing 707 and the MacD DC-10.
@@craigsowers8456 15:57 What he says here is extremely important. Since his time, maintenance tech schools have become shorter, leadership at those tech schools is not as knowledgeable, and less emphasis is being placed on fundamentals and theory of operation. Not to mention the fact that the are combining a ton of career fields and pushing this new "multi-capable Airmen" bullshit which is just a fancy way of saying "do more with less". This is a serious problem in the Air Force right now and it WILL get people killed.
Thanks for pointing that out ... and yeah, folks will not make it thru. Sort of like spinning 360's on black ice ... not much to do but pucker up and wait for the crunch. Sad.@@ChoChan776
Safety is our top priority. Is one of the most common lies in industry and government…in all sectors. Quite often the people saying it believe it, which is even more dangerous.
It’s a problem with financial capitalism. It’s what underpins the entire economy. Late stage capitalism is a failure across the board. Banana republic.
@@DrDeuteronIt really is a lie. Currently developing a new product for an industry and it’s an absolute face palm that it hasn’t been implemented already. But it has to do with worker, client and environmental safety which is not shocking that the ball has been dropped. But what’s even more telling is my biggest selling points will be that it saves the company and industry money. Save the environment with saving their pockets. We all know which selling point is more important to them. Sad really
@@beantown5343 It boggles my mind that people say "safety is our top priority" about anything to do with aircraft. If safety was the top priority, we wouldn't be sticking people into aluminum tubes loaded with gas and flying them through the air. It's a bullshit corporate buzzword that means nothing.
What qualifications does this guy have to be CEO? Have you fact checked anything he’s talking about? I am a pilot. I fly jets. Some of the items he listed are purely dishonest if you categorize them as “safety issues”. Aviation is a very nuanced and complex world that the general public has a poor understanding of…and unless a huge swath of the population suddenly decides to become obsessed with it and study their butts off, it’s going to remain that way. I could take an MMEL which, among many things, outlines all of the equipment that can be inoperative on a modern airliner but still be legally allowed to fly with passengers…exaggerate the hell out of items on that list that people don’t understand, and manipulate the ignorance of the public by saying “LOOK AT ALL THESE BROKEN PARTS THEY’RE ALLOWING” and the public would eat it up. It hits the same part of our brain that gets worried about shark attacks at the local beach. We easily fear what we don’t understand and can’t see. I’m not excusing Boeing for the potential lapse in judgement or sound practices that have led to challenges with the MAX, but be cautious of the people who can just as easily attempt to capitalize on this situation by being misleading and dishonest. Taking what this guy says with a grain of salt is probably well advised.
@@sleepyhorses6100 I fact checked what he is saying, i've also seen recording done inside factory where they have mountains of problems. He is right, this planes will soon cause additional fatalities if nothing is done.
They need to be fired, resignation should not be an option. Any deferred income and other payments, should be cancelled. And then, Calhoun should be investigated for his role in this mess.
This guy is bad faith. As someone with an actual connection to Dave Calhoun, that guy is brilliant and wants nothing but success for Boeing. Success which can only obviously happen with trying to fix Boeing’s already shit standards of safety BEFORE he joined the company. Even this clown had a moment of clarity when he admitted “this is a complicated problem.”
Boeing's decline started when they started using MBA trained people in leadership positions. Put an engineer there and watch the changes occur. The engineers are acutely aware of the issues.
It's all good for profits to cut corners until they get a real disaster, tank the company stock, walk away with 100 million dollar golden parachutes and roll in the next group of slimebags at the helm for fresh pr where they can pretend they are turning over a new leaf.
Don’t slam the MBA’s. I have an MBA from one of the most quantitative businesses schools in the US. Trained on using calculus, quantitative analytics, computational simulations etc to solve problems and develop strategies. I’m as much of a numbers person as an engineer. The problem is the mission the MBA’s are told to pursue by senior management. Boeings problems are C-suite leadership problems and an unaccountable board. A complete replacement of these individuals is required to solve the problems at hand.
Still won't fix the problems IMHO ... until "Quality" has autonomy it will continue unabated. "Engineering" doesn't have a lock on "Doing it right ... the first time". But as noted in a comment above, current Generations don't have the mindset to do the job 100% ... and that's who's getting hired ... MBA (like that is a qualification for excellence LOL), youngsters thinking they can build Aircraft on a Laptop/App from their desks. As "Veteran" workers exited and were replaced (without Mentoring/Training), this is when Quality/Safety went awry IMHO. The way it works is that if you are in "Quality", you have few friends and your name will be scrawled on the bathroom walls.
@@Maaaattttttwhat could ever go wrong? I think passengers have an absolute right to know if their pilot was hired due to merit or because how they look. Same with surgeons.
Boeing whistleblower John Barnett found dead in this last week prior to final questioning, then Ed Pierson who has more publicised stance on Whistleblowing of what goes on at Boeing seems alive and well thank goodness ! All very strange!
Boeing was merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Some Boeing engineers blamed managers from former M.D. (After merging they became managers at Boeing) that these former MD managers led the Boeing company in the poor, inferior, wrong way, wrong leadership. i.e. Boeing, after merging with MD, has done less and less design, but more and more integration, because Boeing has overly outsourced lots of major components to contractors/subcontractors, including foreign countries; consequently Boeing engineers have lost valuable design skills. Engineers of contractors, including foreign contractors gained important, high tech, and even airplane top secret engineering/technical skills. Boeing current CEO has bachelor's degree in accounting. He emphasized on Boeing finance and stock prices. I think Boeing needs a CEO with engineering/technical background.
I work at a small business in Renton. Around 2014 or 2015 a former Boeing engineer was one of our clients. He left the company and was starting out on his own. When he spoke to the manager, he was adamant that she should avoid flying on a 737-Max at all costs. I didn't know what a 737-Max was at the time and had no idea what he was talking about. We thought it was strange.
Seems this man isn’t just out to cause a stir. He seems to be most interested in taking a realistic look at the situation and finding a solution. Big respect.
@@jdekong3945 This is capitalism my friend. CEO's arent meant to care, that's the job of customer care. CEO are meant to make shareholders happy as long as the legal and human resources departments all see no issues with the law. that means cutting corners (cutting costs) is the most capitalistic power-move te ever be done within a corporation
@@The-Cat I would say shareholders probably got very itchy ringpieces when they saw the payouts for all those murdered passengers! we are not talking about a consumer product that has the odd defect due to a bit of sskimping on quality but actual death. Just speaking casually to some friends after the door plug incident aand the consensus is "I will not step foot one one of those planes". Capatilism doesn`t seem to work to well when you have reduced customer confidence, those shareholders will move their wealth to safer prospects. So put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Ed, former 37 year FAA inspector here. If Boeing has an SMS it’s non-existant. Dealt a lot with Boeing repair stations. Total disaster. My guess one of the issues is in Renton at final flight test prior to airworthiness certificate issuance. Also, suppliers, especially Spirit. And yes, the FAA “leadership” is a joke but in their defence, it reflects our country’s culture at this time.
@@eduardofarias5397 you, know, a lot of people complain about the effects of DEI, but these things have only been around for like two years at the vast majority of institutions, and they're not very effective. A review of DEI programs in universities in FL and preliminary results of a review of DEI programs in TX found they have zero effect. This was embarrassing for all sides. DEI proponents were embarrassed because it proves these things just sanctimonious PR and marketing fluff. DEI critics were embarrassed because it turned out there was no grand conspiracy to promote on the basis of race, and the institutions were as meritocracy as ever, DEI had no impact there. There are other researchers and consultants who have found similar results. DEI is mostly marketing fluff, for the vast majority of institutions and companies. I don't know if you're saying the FAA leadership team has been crafted unfairly based on minority status, or Boeing's executives have, but both of those are just flat wrong. It takes two seconds to simply Google their websites and see, no, these are just a bunch of finance people running Boeing. Which is what every engineer working with them has said for 15 years. The finance guys are making dangerous planes. If you can find a single engineer from Boeing blaming DEI, it would be news to me. Finance people destroying businesses and getting paid millions to do it, that's a time honored American tradition, and it is much deeper roots than DEI.
@@josephnason8770 DEI is the root of the problem? how does that work? DEI has only existed few years at Boeing, and it looks like they've had basically no impact. If DEI was really a root cause, then why doesn't Airbus have similar problems? If you can find one person who has real knowledge about the problems at Boeing, like the poster above, who says DEI promotion and hiring was the problem, I'll eat my shoe. You are missing what's in front your face. 100% of people who know about this are saying the problem is a lack of engineers in leadership and management, and management has chosen to cut back on safety and quality as away of making money. Outside of Boeing, the government refuses to hold them accountable (...because Boeing has a monopoly. If you hurt Boeing in any way, you're harming the entire US civil aviation industry). If you still want to project DEI onto that somehow, and just use your imagination from your armchair, go ahead. There's no evidence indicating DEI has contributed, much less caused, these quality issues.
The problem is that authorities will no longer allow open defects on critical components - they all have to be signed off and closed. But signing off an intermittent defect, does not mean it is fixed - it merely covers the problem up. How does anyone know if an intermittent problem is fixed? In the old days we were honest, and gave a warning of a potential problem to the next crews, so the problem could be troubleshooted further. Nowadays, every problem is a surprise to the next crews. How does that aid safety.? Lawyers, HR departments, and DEI drives are destroying many industries - aviation especially. R
This needs more attention because it is absolutely fascinating. This is the world we live in now where reputable companies are falling apart, because of horrible CEOs and directors.
Yes!!! More will be exposed and FALL. Pluto is going to be in & out of Aquarius this year then we will be rocking & rolling in Aquarius for TWENTY years in November of 2024. That hasn't happened since 1777 to 1798. If you know any history those were GRAND times!!!😂❤😂❤
Ed Pierson has balls of STEEL. I can’t imagine the things he saw and the conclusions he came to that influenced his decision to voluntarily leave a high paying prestigious job to speak up against the poor standards that have become the norm at Boeing. He’s correct, I’ve worked in a related industry of aircraft component repair and overhaul and I can say with all certainty that the bottom line is ABSOLUTELY perceived to be the absolutely first concern of upper management/ownership. Of course that is the reason to be in a business but it MUST NOT take the place of producing a quality product that FLIES. You can’t just pull over the the shoulder and check things out. Boeing’s lack of ethics and responsibility is ABHORRENT !
Ever since the McDonald Douglas merger, the culture has change dramatically. Stonecipher changed Boeing and transformed it from an engineering company to a financial services company
@@mark675McDonald was more accurate. I work on the defense side. Actually, it’s still a good company. But the lazy B (Boeing commercial) laid down during the merger. Everyone has half of a job up there and rank and file employees do what they’re told. I hated Stonecipher. We fired him.
Sadly we’re soon going to see Boeing shareholders and politicians getting their pockets lined hiring fake accounts to try and discredit ED!! But too many people have already agreed with ED. Do you remember that video that came out a few years ago? Where 10 out of 15 Boeing employees said they would not step foot on BOEING dream liner problem. Quality and safety issues started when McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing in 1989. Period.
Sadly we’re soon going to see Boeing shareholders and politicians getting their pockets lined hiring fake accounts to try and discredit ED!! But too many people have already agreed with ED. Do you remember that video that came out a few years ago? Where 10 out of 15 Boeing employees said they would not step foot on BOEING dream liner problem. Quality and safety issues started when McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing in 1989. Period.
I had worked on Boeing aircraft for years and was very impressed with the products they were producing. Then in 1999 found my self out of a job so I had heard Boeing was hiring. Turns out they were hiring but they were not paying for experienced help. They hired people with almost no aircraft experience so they would not have to pay fair wages. It didn't take long for the contracts to fall behind and work and to be redone do to poor quality. This was the beginning of build it anyway just save a buck. It's been that way since. How they managed to get away with it this long is what amazes me.
Boeing was merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Some Boeing engineers blamed managers from former M.D. (After merging they became managers at Boeing) that these former MD managers led the Boeing company in the poor, inferior, wrong way, wrong leadership. i.e. Boeing, after merging with MD, has done less and less design, but more and more integration, because Boeing has overly outsourced lots of major components to contractors/subcontractors, including foreign countries; consequently Boeing engineers has lost valuable design skills. Engineers of contractors, including foreign contractors gained important, high tech, and even airplane top secret engineering/technical skills
@@jeep146 I don't know how they were hiring in 1999 because they laid off 30,000 people the next year from the Puget Sound and Wichita plants. I got a pink slip for Christmas in 2000 and it took people off the flight line that had way over 10 years seniority.
Was a defense contract that they won or took over I know they sure didn't want laid off workers from there. They were looking at paying dirt wages with little benefits. Just as well I took a better job at a TV station.
We need more people with this kind of courage! And we need way fewer people like the current CEO of Boeing. Here's a valuable tip for the FAA…walk right through the management office section and talk to the people out on the factory floor…they will tell you what's wrong and what needs to be done to fix it!
Unfortunately the FAA is extremely underfunded. I suppose the powers that be are not seriously concerned about aircraft safety. That's the big problem here.
@@bighoss9705 The FAA is just another act in the Dog & Pony Show. Corporations misbehave, the public raises a stink , the Feds create an agency that supposedly is going to be our watchdog, then underfunds it and handicaps it in a hundred other different ways to ensure it can't do its job. Problem solved!
Trouble is, at every aerospace company I've worked for; well meaning, clear headed, educated and experienced technicians, be they mechanics, avionics, electricians or whatever, have told upper management the exact same things this man has told this interviewer. Nothing changes and the only reason we were not fired for our unsolicited advice is because we were in a Union. If an under manager said these things to their superiors, his desk would be cleaned out by noon. They don't want to hear it because they know "better".
Thank you Mr. Pierson for speaking up for all of us (Aerospace Engineers, Flight Crew, Passengers). Your honesty and courage is admirable and above all very important. Wish you best of luck in contribution to turng this industry into right direction. We are all behind you. Hope this comment finds you.
I worked in Boeing's commercial engineering and software organizations for almost 30 years. Over the years many rank and file employees have wanted to redesign the 737 and transform it into the modern airliner it should be but corporate management has always resisted this idea. It's been clear for some time that the current 737 airframe with its low wing is not a good fit for the larger diameter higher efficiency turbofans that will be needed to keep the 737 competitive with Airbus well into the future.
Why the 707's wing box used as a starting point? It attaches to the same fuselage and accommodates longer gear legs. Wasn't there a re-engine program for 707 to use CFM56s? I believe C-137s as well as E-3s have these (not only KC-135s), so adapting the new engine to this wing box, gear leg length should make it easier.
When the CEO of an airplane company is an accountant, it makes sense to disregard safety, and sound manufacturing practices and quality control, and prioritize maximum profit and cutting costs. That's the problem with most companies in America these days. They have leadership that simply does not understand the technical aspects of it, and only care about profits for the shareholders.
Take a look at the way the US Navy does it with their aircraft carrier. You cannot, by Naval regulations, be the captain of an aircraft carrier without being a Naval aviator.
Boeing was merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Some Boeing engineers blamed managers from former M.D. (After merging they became managers at Boeing) that these former MD managers led the Boeing company in the poor, inferior, wrong way, wrong leadership. i.e. Boeing, after merging with MD, has done less and less design, but more and more integration, because Boeing has overly outsourced lots of major components to contractors/subcontractors, including foreign countries; consequently Boeing engineers has lost valuable design skills. Engineers of contractors, including foreign contractors gained important, high tech, and even airplane top secret engineering/technical skills. Boeing current CEO has bachelor's degree in accounting. He emphasized on Boeing finance and stock prices. I think Boeing needs a CEO with engineering/technical background.
To the above comment - Check your facts, former CEO Dennis Muilenberg has a degree in aerospace engineering, when the MAX 8 MCAS incidents happened people with engineering backgrounds were actally part of upper management not accountants. The issue with Boeing failures are systemic and root causes are multiple they don't necessarily just stem from people's qualifications.
I just flew to salt lake city utah from atlanta. I made sure i flew out on a 767 because i just like the plane and flew on one to england several years ago. When booking our flight back, i avoided an earlier flight due to it being a 737 max because i watched the documentary on the two crashes. My dad and sister didn't understand my reasoning, but watching this interview just 2 days later just reassures me that i made the right decision. I dont fly often, but i will never fly on a max. Thank you, Ed, for your commitment to the safety of everyone.
He is absolutely correct. I have been working in Aerospace Quality since 1980. I retired in 2020. Things are very different now than they were back in the day. What is common practice now was unthinkable back then. I'm glad I'm out of it.
The problem is that authorities will no longer allow open defects on critical components - they all have to be signed off and closed. But signing off an intermittent defect, does not mean it is fixed - it merely covers the problem up. How does anyone know if an intermittent problem is fixed? In the old days we were honest, and gave a warning of a potential problem to the next crews, so the problem could be troubleshooted further. Nowadays, every problem is a surprise to the next crews. How does that aid safety.? Lawyers, HR departments, and DEI drives are destroying many industries - aviation especially. R
The fact Calhoun was more concerned about the impact of the door plug popping on customer airline operations than about the traumatic experience for the passengers on that flight says it all.
Thank you KIRO for having the courage to broadcast this interview. For the sake of the flying public Boeing and the FAA has to do what this great individual recommends. It's not the plug door issue, it's the production over safety culture present at Boeing right now. I wish more networks would televise these interviews to let the public know the root problem behind the Boeing 737 Max 9 issues. Thank you again.
Thank you, Ed Pierson! Thank you for caring about people’s lives and the Boeing legacy which my father is a part of from the early days when engineers were the most important people at Boeing. And thank you, KIRO. Every other interview is short and unsatisfying. This is a great public service. ❤
I lived and worked in Huntsville AL for over a decade. Home to many high tech companies. What I found was the endemic attitude of "don't tell the boss of any problems". Where I worked, the company began losing $30m or so, every quarter. It was rumoured that the CEO founder woud ask at each quarterly meeting: ïf you all tell me that your division is doing well... then tell me how come we are losing so much each quarter?" It was the don't tell the boss syndrome. I was asked to investigate and report.... a few years later at a restaurant, the ex-VP said to me: ÿou're the bastard that cost me my job". Don't kill the messenger? If management at the VP level is so out of touch with what is happening, there is no hope for the company as a whole. Boeing suffers the syndrome. It's so big and diverse that top management probably doesn't even know where the shop floors are.
An Airbus person here. It is interesting what he says about Dave Calhoun being seen as big deal, walking the floor. I will not get into a pissing contest as I know there are zealots on both sides, however, we don't see that level of detachment from Guillaume Faury. There is a culture of speak up at Airbus and management take it very seriously. But Airbus is not without its flaws. However, we address them as an engineering company, not a Wall Street Company. I am hypothesizing, but potentially Boeing has gotten worse as Airbus has caught up and in the bread and butter market of the single aisle, Airbus is now number one. Cutting corners to compete using a 1960s plane is a recipe for disaster and flogging the venerated but ancient airframe of the 737 is pushing Boeing to take on design risk that was a factor in the two crashes a couple of years ago. Boeing is playing catch up now to Airbus in the single aisle and is really not used to that situation and is making mistakes as a result. In the longer term, neither company wants to have to invest in a new model for that segment because it is very, very expensive, but if Boeing go for a clean sheet design, Airbus will follow, unless it stretches the A220. So potentially it is a case of who blinks first with a new model that will undoubtedly have to be radically different from what has gone before in terms of power plants, environmental footprint etc.
How many times in the last 40 or even 50 years was the 737 going to be redesigned as a new clean sheet design? Between the 737 and the 757 did the management shutter the wrong program?
Protect and listen to and revere when a person knows what is happening... It's a gift he is giving to society... Do something useful with what he is sharing...
It was MD leadership that took over after the merger, replacing Boeing's successful engineering-focused leadership with the failed bean counter leadership of a smaller, less successful company.
Nearly doomed their MD Helicopter division too. Fortunately it’s in better hands right now, and they’re focusing more on their civilian utility helicopters, getting necessary parts and ships out to commercial operators.
Boeing was merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Some Boeing engineers blamed managers from former M.D. (After merging they became managers at Boeing) that these former MD managers led the Boeing company in the poor, inferior, wrong way, wrong leadership. i.e. Boeing, after merging with MD, has done less and less design, but more and more integration, because Boeing has overly outsourced lots of major components to contractors/subcontractors, including foreign countries; consequently Boeing engineers have lost valuable design skills. Engineers of contractors, including foreign contractors gained important, high tech, and even airplane top secret engineering/technical skills. Boeing current CEO has bachelor's degree in accounting. He emphasized on Boeing finance and stock prices. I think Boeing needs a CEO with engineering/technical background.
The FAA needs to have the employees for real oversight if that what is missing. But that smacks of big government and the majority of citizens seem to be railing against it these days.
The FAA is a big part of the problem. They never act to clarify anything. They always make everything ten orders of magnitude worse than it would be otherwise.
This is the outcome when the accounting department & shareholders relations is listened to more than the engineers. Profits first, quality & safety a distant second.
Well think about incentives. With insider knowledge they know when the big production push is happening, when the cash is coming in. They have months lead time to sell shares and time their exit when the problems begin to show up. With the use of shell companies or "friends" they can even short the stock. The whole point is to sew the seeds of chaos to profit from it. Like puncturing tires if you have a business franchise selling tires, but on a grander scale.
Boeing was merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Some Boeing engineers blamed managers from former M.D. (After merging they became managers at Boeing) that these former MD managers led the Boeing company in the poor, inferior, wrong way, wrong leadership. i.e. Boeing, after merging with MD, has done less and less design, but more and more integration, because Boeing has overly outsourced lots of major components to contractors/subcontractors, including foreign countries; consequently Boeing engineers have lost valuable design skills. Engineers of contractors, including foreign contractors gained important, high tech, and even airplane top secret engineering/technical skills. Boeing current CEO has bachelor's degree in accounting. He emphasized on Boeing finance and stock prices. I think Boeing needs a CEO with engineering/technical background.
Being a transmission line engineer, this interview reminds me of when I was reading the report given on what caused the Hawaii fire, which was just a complete systematic failure from top to bottom on both sides of the equation with the electrical company and the state government and the federal government, and people die tragically when it can easily be completely prevented
As someone who has worked in quality control in American factories I am happy Delta uses Airbus on routes I fly. American factories use temp workers, most of whom don’t care at all about what they are doing.
It's not up to the FAA to design and guarantee properly built airplanes. It's up to the airplane manufacturer to PROVE their airplanes are reliably safe. The duty of management is to ensure the design, manufacturing, and quality control engineers have the resources to do their jobs properly. The current management at Boeing is clueless.
While it is not their job to do the work it IS their job to ensure public safety by exercising oversight on companies involved in the aviation industry. Thanks to “deregulation” campaigns and “smaller government” campaigns congress has been deliberately gutting government agencies that provide that oversight. Businesses call it red tape. Excessive red tape is certainly onerous, but you have to be very cautious that in getting rid of these checks and oversight, that you are not removing the rules and proseases written in blood.
I worked at Boeing for a short while. A friend of mine that was on the assembly side said they would have to have their worked signed off by a supervisor ,but the supervisor wouldn't even inspect the work. They would just sign off on the spot to keep it moving.
@@scottriddell7893 I'm sure it's a misquote on my part. They may have said inspector and I'm misremembering it as "supervisor". This conversation would have been about 7 years ago now.
@@scottriddell7893Even so, work needs inspecting within the manufacturing process. Not just by designated inspectors. Typically more inspection is done for fresher recruits.
This was absolutely tragic. Thank God for this man blowing the whistle, to help prevent such accidents in the future. He told a very sad story at the end, about the gentleman who lost his whole family. 😢
As a retired aerospace engineer who worked in the aircraft industry for decades including at Edwards AFB on advanced combat aircraft, Ed Pierson is right. If you want compliance to contract required government quality and reliability standards, you have to witness and document the inspections and tests and sign off on the results. But beyond that, you have to have the personal integrity and the trust of the rest of the program team, that you are there to protect the integrity of the program. Sometimes that may mean that you may have to resign or be fired because you refused to let something go.
Safety is their top priority? lmao. Employees - maybe so. The white collar set could not care less. Thank you Mr. Pierson, for being honest and thank you KIRO for putting this out there.
Absolutely agree and admire this gentlemen. Family member who has worked for Boeing for over 30 years and that individual states the same as everyone else's comments: years ago, Boeing was a safe and reputable company that cared about its costumers and its employees. Now, it's all about "lean manufacturing" aka save money at any cost and give the executives enormous Bonuses. Boeing is going to go bankrupt if they don't listen to their own employees on the floor, and individuals like this gentlemen, and get back to SAFETY AS THEIR PRIMARY FOCUS AND TAKING CARE OF THE EMPLOYEES WHO ACTUALLY BUILD THE PLANES.
How much did they pay you to say that and lean manufacturing is not a good thing that means you're cutting corners you're you're messing with two to 300 people's lives in every plane that might go down because of your lean policies
I see you got nothing to say about the lives of the people who ride in those airplanes all you worried about is the employee safety not about the safety of the people that will be flying on that said airplane sitting in their houses when the airplane crashes into it
@sistermaryfrances4480 They weren't stating that lean manufacturing was a good thing. They clearly mentioned that as a problem. Maybe you need to reread the comment. Boeing used to be a great company who cared about safety, that's well known. It's just no longer that company. That's why people are speaking out.
@Leslie_Knope maybe you should re-read my comment. I stated that it used to be a good company UNTIL THE "lean manufacturing" - which meant aka (otherwise known as) saving money only. It is not a good thing and I didn't say it was. It's a horrible thing
As the daughter of a career and recently retired Boeing Engineer, I can attest to each thing he said. Boeing is a great company, they can fix this! The question is will leadership listen & follow through. This is bigger than broken planes… this is about people’s lives! Boeing… are you listening? This man is a HERO! 👍🏼
Airlines should be required to post what plane is making your flight before flight day and allow you to switch accordingly. The Boeing company would quickly feel the impact of it's betrayal of the public trust and begin to revamp it's priorities or end up with a desert full of unsellable aircraft.
Boeing is being run by Wallstreet experts and not by aviation oriented people. The failures are mounting in nearly everything that involves Boeing. Even recently, we heard of serious safety concerns by NASA involving the Starliner capsule. A space capsule that is still not rated ready for space flight while receiving far more money than SpaceX for the Dragon which has been flying for years now.
