Boeing Co. directors plan to meet with top executives of some of their biggest airline customers, who are increasingly frustrated by the plane maker’s crisis spilling over into their businesses.
Dave Calhoun, Boeing’s chief executive, will not attend meetings that begin next week, sources familiar with the matter said. Larry Kellner, chairman of Boeing’s board of directors, will lead the unusual listening tour and will be joined by two or three other directors for each session, although the cast of participants will vary, said the people, who asked not to be identified identified as the plans. they 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 centered on its flagship product, the 737 Max airliner. Calhoun is in favor of the sessions, a Boeing official said.
The plans underscore growing customer frustration with Calhoun and Stan Deal, the head of Boeing’s commercial airplane business, as a crisis centered on the plane maker’s production quality and safety shows no signs of abating nearly three months later that a fuselage panel blew off a 737 in flight. Maximum.
An extensive audit of Boeing and its suppliers by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has raised concerns about the company’s safety culture, the agency’s top official said earlier this week.
Kellner, a former airline CEO, began the customer outreach effort after several top U.S. airline heads discussed a group meeting with Boeing directors during a recent session of the Airlines for America trade group , people said. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that airline leaders had approached the board.
Scheduling discussions are still ongoing and the meeting schedule has not been finalized, the people said. The sessions are expected to feature the heads of major U.S. airlines as well as major international airlines.
Boeing’s largest U.S. customers include 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 communication with Boeing, which is nothing new and will continue,” Southwest said in a statement.
CEOs of several major airlines have expressed frustration with the state of Boeing’s operations since the January crash.
Michael O’Leary, the outspoken chief executive of Ryanair Holdings Plc, called on Boeing to get a move on at an airline conference in Brussels on Wednesday. While expressing confidence in Calhoun and chief financial officer Brian West, the Ryanair leader said “the performance in Seattle was not acceptable.”
Ryanair will not participate in meetings with Boeing directors, the airline said in a statement.
Representatives for Boeing, American, United, Alaska and Airlines for America did not immediately comment or respond.