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Boeing's attempts to handle the crisis caused by two fatal accidents on its 737 Max aircraft have left people perplexed, worried and skeptical about its excuses instead of restoring confidence in the company, Business Insider experts told many.
The largest aerospace manufacturer in the world has not found better than explanations and an appropriate international response after the crash of two Max jets in five months, making nearly 350 dead.
First of all, a Lion Air 737 Max crashed into the sea off Indonesia in October 2018, killing 189 people aboard. Then, in March 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed shortly after take-off, leaving a total of 157 dead, all passengers on board.
Boeing General Manager Denis Muilenburg apologized in a video 26 days after the second accident, acknowledging that the second preliminary report confirmed that the aircraft sensors had malfunctioned in the same way on aircraft. two convicted jet aircraft.
"We own it," he said, claiming that a software update meant that similar accidents would not "happen again."
But in the coming weeks, the company will also defend the design of the aircraft.
Read more: Boeing would have received no new aircraft orders last month, as airlines turned him around after the fatal accident of the 737 Max.
Boeing did not respond to requests for comments.
But experts from the aviation and communications sectors, as well as analysts, told Business Insider that the company's response had been slow, inadequate and confusing, and that it had probably helped to strengthen mistrust of Boeing aircraft instead of helping to regain confidence. The lawyers helping to sue Boeing – who obviously do not care about the company's interests – are in agreement.
Helio Fred Garcia, professor of crisis management at the University of New York and Columbia University, and president of the crisis management company Logos Consulting Group, told Business Insider: "Trust did not fall because two of his planes crashed, be indifferent. "
Boeing's immediate reaction to the second accident put him on the back
The fact that Muilenburg apologized for the role played by the company in the collisions was a step forward for the company, said Garcia. "They said, 'We are here, we apologize, we take it seriously, we are on the scene.' They understood."
But the video of excuses, he said, arrived too late, and the pre-recorded video format distributed on social networks and news networks may not have helped.
"My feeling of Muilenburg is that he was a few steps from where he was supposed to be."
"It was a good video, but it was a) late b) limited primarily to social media and all the mainstream media that cited quotes."
"A video statement is better than no statement, but it would be more effective if it were in front of humans, with some ability to answer questions."
This slowness, he said, may have led some airlines to beware of Boeing. Shortly after the crash of Ethiopian Airlines in March, Indonesian airline Garuda canceled a $ 49 billion order for forty-nine Max 737 aircraft, claiming that passengers "had lost confidence and that They had more confidence in the plane ".
Read more: The FAA is so concerned about the future of the Boeing 737 Max that it is calling on NASA and the Air Force to ensure the safety of its flight.
Professor Irv Schenkler, who teaches crisis communication at the NYU Stern School of Business, told Business Insider that Boeing had taken a "business problem" and made it "a reputation crisis – caused by miscommunication at the beginning of the events, which aroused anxiety and fear. "
Boeing's initial strategy was "the less we say, the better," he said.
But it seemed to turn against them: "This strategy created a void in which the media rushed in, discovering details about meetings and messages that contradicted the company's statements."
His strategy then changed after the apology, said Schenkler, "out of necessity".
Muilenburg's excuses, said Schenkler, show that Boeing "hopes to" hold the line "with industrial customers and governments, while trying to showcase their best face through video excuses."
Read more: The consequences of the 737 Max fatalities have already cost Boeing $ 1 billion – and it can not predict how much it could get worse.
"To a certain extent, just apply lipstick to a pig.This is always a pig."
Boeing's excuses led to a series of conflicting messages that may have made people more frightened
Boeing 's apology comes after his promise to create a software update that would solve the aircraft' s problems and, once approved by the FAA and global regulators, send it back to the skies as "l '". one of the safest planes to date ".
But Boeing also defended the design of the aircraft to the public and shareholders, claiming that there was no "technical slip" in its creation.
Read more: Boeing admits to having created a key alert system associated with optional defective sensors on 737 MAX aircraft
Chris Clearfield, Founder of the System Logic Risk Management Consulting Company, Authorized Pilot and Co-Author of Collapse, a book on disaster management, told Business Insider that these messages seemed contradictory, which meant that "Boeing's response to the crisis was disputed."
Jim Corridore, CFRA's aerospace and defense analyst, told Business Insider that "Boeing is playing double-edged" by acknowledging his responsibilities while hinting that factors beyond his control may not be working well. turned.
In April, Muilenburg suggested that Ethiopian Airlines 'crash drivers did not "fully" comply with the builder' s emergency procedures.
Corridore said that this approach was "not a good strategy".
Garcia said that Boeing seemed "unprepared" to the concern expressed by airlines and governments around the world, which landed the plane and sent a confusing mix of messages that "have led to a failure in the execution of their strategy".
"They said all the good things about" our condolences "and" we are committed to doing things right. "But they said" our plane is safe, we trust the safety of our plane ", and they also said we were working on a software update. "
Read more: After the crash of the 737 Max Air Lion, Boeing reportedly sent people around the world to reassure the airlines, even persuading them to maintain their order for the plane.
Garcia said that it was confusing because "they are working on a software upgrade, this suggests that there is something wrong with the software".
"When they say," We apologize, but our plane is safe, "people say," Wait a minute, these two statements can not be true. "
This confusion, he said, has aroused people's concern about Boeing: "They sent this confusing and ambiguous thing that caused a sense of concern.Where there is ambiguity, there is unresolved tension, and this unresolved tension is a source of anxiety. "
Both Clearfield and Garcia said that Boeing probably thought of the safety of the aircraft in terms of engineering, rather than the sight of pilots flying the aircraft. Pilots may commit human errors and would not always have known that a safety function in the planes they were flying was disabled.
Read more: Boeing's CEO strengthens his legal team as he prepares for 737 lawsuits for Max
"What I think they meant by that was" our plane is safe when the pilots know how to fly this plane. "And they assumed that all the pilots knew how to fly this plane," Garcia said.
"I have the impression that they were not intentionally misleading, they just thought of themselves as engineers and not as pilots."
Victims' family lawyers also criticize Boeing's response
Brian Kabateck, who represents 13 families suing Boeing following the Lion Air crash, told Business Insider that Boeing could help families by solving the cases and letting them go. But first, he said, they had to be consistent in their messages.
"The first thing Boeing could do is adopt a consistent position," he said.
Joe Power, a Chicago-based personal injury attorney representing some of the accident victims of Ethiopian Airlines, told Business Insider that asking Boeing's trust was "not only confusing. but also misleading ".
Read more: Boeing's CEO explains why the company did not inform the 737 Max pilots of the computer system that contributed to 2 fatal accidents
He added that Boeing was speaking more publicly because of the attention paid to the case: "Because of the outcry, Boeing is slowly revealing the truth." This slow truth seems to come from the launchers of Alert rather than Boeing's hierarchy ".
"The late and inadequate response from Boeing fell in the ear of a deaf person for all who suffered from this tragedy."
According to some lawyers, Muilenburg's apology could help families with their business, and more and more families have come forward to sue Boeing since his speech.
Garcia said that lawyers would often say to their clients not to apologize "fearing that it will increase liability", but added that it was "a matter of fact." best strategy for Boeing. "My answer is that they will be pursued anyway, better to maintain trust."
How Boeing handles the crisis is important for the company
Garcia said Boeing needed to focus on the airlines to be able to "make sure every pilot knows what's in his plane and what he does not do, that every pilot knows how to manage the new software ".
As suggested by President of the United States, Donald Trump, any attempt at Max's name change would be perceived as "essentially a public relations cascade – trying to deceive people in the future about the type from the plane in which they ride ".
Read more: Boeing's Nightmare and Challenging 737 Max 8 Policies Threaten US Position as World Leader in Aviation
Boeing's management of the crisis will also be important for its financial future, having already seen its profits plummet in the aftermath of disasters.
Corridore, the aviation analyst, said his company had assigned a "buy" rating to Boeing's shares because "we think Boeing will fix this software problem, the planes will finally safe ".
But he added that they needed to think about how to handle the crisis "as they develop a business strategy aimed at restoring customer confidence for the next 50 years".
"As long as they succeed, what we think they will do, the stock will be OK."
Garcia said that one of the ways to help Boeing 's image would be for Muilenburg to appear before a congressional committee.
"The problem for Boeing is that it is now a matter of trust and responsibility, and only the CEO can restore that trust or keep it or speak it differently so that he can do one of these things before Congress. "
In the end, Garcia said, "The first rule of any crisis is to show that you care.And what is clear to me is that Boeing was unable to make people believe that". they care about it. "
"Boeing can survive this, but only if they show that they care about them."
Do you work at Boeing or the FAA, or are you a pilot? Do you have a tip or a story to share? Contact this reporter via an encrypted email application. Post +353 86 335 0386 with the help of a nonprofessional phone or send him an e-mail at the address [email protected], or Twitter DM at the address@ sineadbaker1.
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