Boeing has a ‘moral compass problem,’ veteran pilot argues

The approval of Boeing outgoing CEO Dave Calhoun’s nearly $33 million compensation package by shareholders sparked significant outrage, including from American Airlines Capt. Dennis Tajer, who flew Boeing aircraft during his more than 30-year career as a pilot.

Tajer, who also flew Boeing planes during combat while in the military, believes the decision underscores that Boeing “has more than safety culture problem. They have a moral compass problem.”

“This affirms that at Boeing, if their CEOs screw up, they pay up,” Tajer said, adding that “they did the same for their previous CEO by rewarding him with millions of departure cash for destroying trust and billions in market capitalization.”

Calhoun has been on Boeing board since 2009 and took over as CEO in 2020 to navigate a “challenging time” for the company as it sought to gain back public trust after a pair of deadly crashes involving its 737 Max 8 planes occurred in 2018 and 2019. Some industry leaders are now arguing that he did not do his job as the company is now contending with fallout from a door plug getting blown off one of its jetliners earlier this year.

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FOX Business reached out to Boeing for comment. 

Tajer is fuming over the fact that he is being “rewarded” at a time when the company lost $40 billion of market capitalization year to date under his leadership. 

The company lost $2.2 billion in 2023 alone. 

Trust in the company has been tested since a door plug blew off an Alaska Airlines flight in January as it was ascending.  

Robert A. Clifford, aviation attorney and senior partner at Clifford Law Offices, said shareholders effectively “rewarded a massive failure in leadership with a Golden Parachute.” 

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Clifford is the lead counsel representing the families of victims in litigation against Boeing in U.S. district court in Chicago for a Boeing 737 Max 8 crash that killed 157 persons in Ethiopia in 2019. 

Shareholder activist James McRitchie of CorpGov.net said on LinkedIn: “$33M to Calhoun as a reward for failure. Boeing’s headline safety issues and poor performance. A dollar invested in the S&P 500 five years ago is worth $1.85. The same investment in Boeing is worth $0.52.”

Even social media users were up in arms. 

“Here’s some Friday inspiration, even if you’re terrible at your job you can make $33 million,” one user said on X.

Boeing announced in March that Calhoun was stepping down at the end of 2024 as the aerospace giant grapples with fallout stemming from the 737 Max crisis and quality issue claims regarding the manufacturing of its 787 Dreamliners. 

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The company noted that Calhoun will “lead Boeing through the year to complete the critical work underway to stabilize and position the company for the future.” 

However, that is not soon enough, Clifford said. 

Calhoun “should be penalized instead of rewarded and immediately replaced instead of the company waiting to find someone else to take his place,” he added. 

Some shareholders wanted him out immediately as well, according to The Associated Press.