Boeing’s Image Makeover; From Opaque To Tearfully Accountable

Could Boeing
BA
possibly be getting help from PR makeover consultants to soften its public image, lately perceived by some as cold and dodgy?

Breaking out of corporate character, Boeing’s CEO uncharacteristically accepted Boeing’s responsibility for Alaska Airlines’ door plug blowing out in mid-air, at one point misting up, while discussing the event with Boeing employees at what must’ve been a very awkward town hall meeting.

This is in sharp contrast to the company’s past stubborn denial of the two 737 MAX crashes around 5 years ago, when they were initially quick to deflect blame to the pilots. Once cornered with the truth, the company then tried throwing a sacrificial lower-level employee under the bus to shift any blame from its senior management. The employee was exonerated, likely with lasting career damage, while leaving Boeing with yet another black eye in its quest to deny leadership culpability.

However, their bristly public image seems to have gotten a sudden makeover following the most recent Alaska Airlines emergency. This time, instead of blaming everyone but themselves, Boeing manned up and acknowledged their mistake despite the investigation still ongoing by the FAA. This radical and sudden shift to accountability is in sharp contrast to its previous federal criminal misconduct fine for misleading regulatory officials.

However, Boeing may have laid on its new sympathetic persona a little too quickly and heavily. Whereas Boeing took weeks to ever acknowledge its role in the Boeing MAX crashes, CEO David Calhoun, who had been a Boeing board member back then, is now “shaken to the bone” by the latest Alaska Airlines incident.

He may have been trying a little too hard to humanize Boeing on a CNBC interview claiming to be personally “devastated” and “emotional” (while seemingly fighting back tears) given that he had just spent a week with his kids and grandkids. The conversation stopped short of any mention of puppies or kittens at home.

Regardless, the contrast between the old Dave and the new Dave is drastic and from a PR perspective, borderline bipolar. It would instead seem that the company is now executing an about-face communications strategy to come across as cuddly, but may have overdone it by instead coming across as deliberate and premeditated.

Only Mr. Calhoun will ever know whether turning on the waterworks for the cameras was authentic or choreographed. Even if real, skeptics may wonder whether it was in response to an inanimate airplane door, or whether it was a tear shed for his own unknown future fate with widespread program delays, quality issues and empty new product pipeline on his watch.