Boeing 737 MAX

Public RegisterApril 2019

Dennis Muilenburg

CEO, The Boeing Company · Boeing Annual Shareholders Meeting

“Safety is our highest priority at Boeing. It is at the core of our culture and how we build airplanes. We will do whatever it takes to ensure the 737 MAX is the safest plane in the skies.”

Private ArtifactApril 2016

Boeing Technical Pilot

internal flight crew communications · Internal Instant Message

“This airplane is designed by clowns who in turn are supervised by monkeys.”

The Split:Muilenburg defined safety as Boeing's 'core culture' and highest priority. In private IMs between technical pilots designing the systems, the assessment of the engineering hierarchy was scathing: 'designed by clowns supervised by monkeys.'

The Tell:The phrase 'safety is our highest priority' is rarely uttered in private by engineers; it is a defensive slogan created by PR departments.

Pipe: congressReleased by House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.

testimony-gapaviation·2018 / unsealed 2020

Would you put your family on a MAX?

Public Register2018

Boeing Commercial Airplanes

marketing brochure to airlines · 737 MAX Airline Briefing Deck

“With over 99.7% dispatch reliability, the 737 MAX delivers ultimate confidence, passenger comfort, and unmatched operational safety for your fleet.”

Private ArtifactFebruary 2018

Boeing Pilot A to Pilot B

senior test pilots · Internal Instant Message

“Pilot A: 'I'll be shocked if the FAA passes this training.' Pilot B: 'Would you put your family on a MAX simulator trained aircraft? I wouldn't.' Pilot A: 'No.'”

The Split:The public sales materials promised 'ultimate confidence and unmatched operational safety'. In peer-to-peer messages, the very pilots testing the aircraft admitted they would not let their own families fly on a MAX configured under those simulator training rules.

The Tell:When an insider asks 'would you let your family use this?', you are hearing the private preference speak directly.

Pipe: congressDisclosed under subpoena to Congress.

euphemismaviation·2017 / unsealed 2020

Jedi mind-tricking regulators on simulator training

Public Register2017

Boeing Regulatory Compliance

FAA certification filing · FAA Joint Aircraft Operations Group Submission

“The Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) operates transparently to the crew and preserves existing 737 handling qualities without requiring simulator differences training.”

Private ArtifactMarch 2017

Mark Forkner

737 Chief Technical Pilot · Internal Email to Colleague

“I'll be jedi mind-tricking regulators into accepting the training... probably save Boeing a few hundred million dollars.”

The Split:The certification filings presented MCAS as benignly transparent to pilots. Internally, the chief technical pilot celebrated using 'jedi mind-tricks' on safety regulators to avoid mandatory simulator sessions and preserve a multi-million-dollar airline rebate clause.

The Tell:Whenever a complex software override is claimed to be 'transparent to the operator', ask whether it was hidden to avoid retraining costs.

Pipe: congressCongressional investigative release.

values-afteraviation·2020

These communications do not reflect who we are

Public RegisterJanuary 9, 2020

The Boeing Company

official corporate response statement · Press Release on Release of Employee Communications

“These communications do not reflect the company we are and need to be, and are completely unacceptable. We have taken appropriate steps to hold employees accountable and reinforce our safety culture.”

Private Artifact2015-2018

Boeing Senior Management Memos

internal executive directives · Internal Management Review Memos

“Any request for additional flight simulator hours will trigger executive escalation. The commercial agreement with Southwest guarantees $1 million per plane if simulator training is mandated. Protect the schedule.”

The Split:When the emails leaked, Boeing claimed the vulgar messages 'do not reflect the company we are'. In reality, the employees were executing the exact cost incentives written into multi-million-dollar airline contracts by senior leadership.

The Tell:'This does not reflect who we are' is standard corporate grammar for: this is exactly how we operated, but we wrote down the penalty clause in private.

Pipe: company-releaseForced disclosure by Boeing to congressional committees.

safety-theateraviation·2016 / unsealed 2019

Schedule over safety: Executive bonus structures

Public Register2016

Boeing Engineering Standards Board

public engineering statement · Boeing Annual Review

“Boeing engineers are empowered to halt any program if quality or safety standards are not meeting our gold-standard requirements.”

Private Artifact2016

Senior 737 MAX Program Management

internal program compensation memos · Internal Program Management Incentive Review

“Program milestone bonuses are tied strictly to delivery dates and flight-test certification windows. Any engineering redesign that threatens the airline delivery timeline will be rejected unless backed by a mandatory FAA airworthiness directive.”