Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said he is "proud of every action" he's taken as outgoing chief, amid the aerospace company's series of flight fiascos.
At a Tuesday Senate hearing focused on Boeing's safety woes, Calhoun stood by the airplane manufacturer's marred safety record, despite a series of recent mechanical mishaps, questionable parts manufacturing, and several whistleblowers' allegations of criminal coverups.
"I'm proud of having taken the job. I'm proud of this safety record, and I'm proud of our Boeing people," Calhoun responded when Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley questioned why he hasn't yet resigned, according to CNN.
"I'm proud of every action we have taken," he maintained.
During the heated exchange, Hawley grilled Calhoun over his $32.8 million salary, which Hawley noted was a 45% increase over the previous year, and questioned whether safety was part of his responsibilities as CEO. Calhoun confirmed.
"If safety is a component of your $33 million compensation package, how can you qualify for any of this?" Hawley interrogated. "I think the truth is, Mr. Calhoun, you're not focused on safety, you're not focused on quality, you're not focused on transparency."
Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal called Boeing a once "iconic company known for engineering excellence and product prowess, that somehow lost its way."
In March, a Boeing 777-300ER traveling from Sydney to San Francisco was forced to turn around due to a fuel leak. That same month, a Boeing 777-200 from San Francisco to Japan was forced to make an emergency landing in Los Angeles after a tire fell from the aircraft.
Also in March, two former employees-turned-whistleblowers died –– one from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and another from sudden illness. The death of 62-year-old John Barnett, who was found dead in his truck alongside a suicide note, was triggered by "the immense pressure the company put on him," Blumenthal alleged.
Both whistleblowers accused Boeing of overlooking defects in its manufacturing of airplanes before they died.
"The issues before us today have real human consequences. Life and death results. Not just abstract numbers," added Blumenthal. "This hearing is a moment of reckoning."
