737 MAX disaster pushes Boeing into crisis mode
AFP|
Boeing in crisis mode
That was made worse by the company's response, according to industry experts, who described their efforts variously as "terrible," and "rough."
In pic: Mourners of victims of the crashed accident of Ethiopian Airlines react during the mass funeral at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
AFP
Rough week for Boeing
"It's been a rough week for them," said Matt Yemma, a crisis communication specialist at Peaks Strategies, based in Connecticut.
AFP
What Boeing could have done
"Instead they just kind of let things dragged on and they end up losing a lot of market cap and a lot of business."
It was not until Wednesday after many governments and airlines worldwide had already banned the plane, that Boeing followed suit "out of an abundance of caution."
This was the second tragic accident in less than five months involving this model, which has been in service since May 2017, after the crash of a Lion Air flight in October which killed 189 people.
AFP
Similarities in both the accidents
And the Federal Aviation Administration said evidence at the crash site in Ethiopia and new satellite data showed similarities and warranted "further investigation of the possibility of a shared cause for the two incidents."
And despite the growing use of the MAX worldwide, in China and Europe in particular, Boeing only issued brief statements, and meanwhile appeared to be attempting to prevent the US authorities from grounding the plane.
Two days after the accident, the company's CEO Dennis Muilenburg spoke on the phone with President Donald Trump, who had complained on Twitter that modern airplanes were becoming too complex for pilots to handle.
Reuters
'American arrogance'
"It's the American arrogance," a source close to the aircraft manufacturer told AFP, which is "dangerous because it shows that the work was not done properly" due to overconfidence.
AFP
What took them so long
"Typically in a situation like this, you want to give as much information as you possibly can," especially given how quickly news whips around the globe, Yemma said.
"You want to make your clients, passengers and the public feel at ease about wanting to fly your planes. And the market and investors need to know there is nothing wrong and if there is something wrong that it's going to be fixed."
Michael Priem of communications firm Modern Impact in Minneapolis, agreed Boeing should have moved faster to reassure the general public.
The public expects "very quick responses and I think Boeing didn't engage in the conversation soon enough," he said.
AFP
Rolling out a software upgrade
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Captain Sully asks
"It has been obvious since the Lion Air crash that a redesign of the 737 MAX 8 has been urgently needed ... and the announced proposed fixes do not go far enough," he said on social media.
AFP
Lost image
The company will have to provide a sincere "mea culpa" because "the damage is done," a source close to the aircraft manufacturer said.
AFP
