Boeing’s missteps have cost it billions. Here’s its path forward

Boeing executives spent years after two fatal 737 Max crashes trying to convince Wall Street, regulators, airlines and the flying public that they had an eagle eye on quality, reliability and safety.

Then on Jan. 5, about six minutes and 16,000 feet into a packed flight out of Portland, Oregon, a door plug blew out of a nearly new Boeing 737 Max 9. The panel was missing key bolts that hold it in place, which the company had removed to fix damaged rivets, according to early accident reports.

No one was seriously injured, but the harrowing flight jolted Boeing’s leaders back into crisis mode. It also reignited scrutiny and skepticism from the same groups the iconic plane-maker spent years trying to win back after the two Max crashes.

Now Boeing’s leaders say they have charted a path forward to fix the company: Better oversight, improved safety and manufacturing procedures, and more robust training for workers, many of them new hires after pandemic-era buyouts and layoffs of thousands of employees.

Boeing this month unveiled a long-awaited deal to buy back its troubled fuselage supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, in a bid to help stamp out production flaws.

A week later, Boeing said it reached a deal with the Justice Department to plead guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government tied to the fatal 737 Max crashes. Attorneys representing crash victims’ families blasted the agreement as a “sweetheart” deal. If approved by a federal judge, it would allow Boeing to avoid a potentially lengthy and costly criminal trial, though it would also brand Boeing as a felon.

“This past January, the facade quite literally blew off the hollow shell that had been Boeing’s promises to the world,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in testimony for a Senate panel hearing he called last month, where Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun was roasted by lawmakers.

Industry watchers and insiders say a string of decisions stretching back decades — from a 1997 merger to outsourcing — led to the problems at the longtime touchstone of American manufacturing quality and innovation. Boeing employs some 170,000 people, and its products have landed everywhere from the Maldives to the moon.

Even with its road map in hand, fixing its problems and restoring Boeing’s reputation will take years — and it won’t be cheap.

And Boeing still has plenty of people to convince.

Boeing hasn’t posted an annual profit since 2018, and the…