Directors of Boeing Co. are planning to meet with top executives from some of their biggest airline clients, who are increasingly frustrated by the planemaker’s crisis plowing into their businesses.
Dave Calhoun, Boeing’s CEO, will not participate in the meetings starting next week, people familiar with the matter said. Larry Kellner, Boeing’s chairman, is leading the unusual listening tour and will be joined at each meeting by two or three other directors, although the lineup will vary, said the people, who asked not to be named. are confidential.
For Kellner and other board members, the initiative will provide unfiltered feedback from some of the world’s largest airlines as Boeing navigates another crisis involving its most important product, the 737 Max jetliner. Calhoun supports the meetings, a Boeing spokesman said.
The plans underscore growing customer frustration with Calhoun and Stan Deal, the head of Boeing’s commercial aircraft unit, as the planemaker’s quality and safety crisis shows no sign of abating nearly three months after a fuselage panel exploded off the side of a 737 jet. Max.
A wide-ranging audit of Boeing and its suppliers by the US Federal Aviation Administration found concern A senior agency official spoke about the company’s safety culture earlier this week.
Kellner, a former airline CEO, initiated the outreach after several top U.S. airline executives discussed a group meeting with Boeing directors during a recent session of the trade group Airlines for America, the sources said. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that airline executives had approached the board.
Planning discussions are still ongoing and a meeting schedule has not yet been finalized, the people said. The meetings are expected to be attended by executives from major U.S. carriers as well as key international airlines.
Boeing’s largest customers in the United States are American Airlines Group Inc., United Airlines Holdings Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc., Southwest Airlines Co. and Alaska Air Group Inc.
“We have ongoing and frequent communications with Boeing, which are not new and will continue,” Southwest said in a statement.
CEOs of several prominent airlines have expressed disappointment in Boeing’s performance since the January crash.
Michael O’Leary, the outspoken chief executive of Ryanair Holdings Plc, on Wednesday called on Boeing to pull itself together during an airline conference in Brussels. While voicing confidence in Calhoun and CFO Brian West, the Ryanair chief said the “results in Seattle were unacceptable.”
Ryanair will not take part in meetings with Boeing directors, the airline said in a statement.
Representatives for Boeing, American, United, Alaska and Airlines for America either had no comment or did not immediately respond.