Editorial: Why Airline Executives Should Stay Away From Air Shows

In the 12 months between this year’s IATA AGM in Dubai and the previous one in Istanbul, Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ (BCA) already awful situation has worsened.

Another serious 737 MAX incident—the blowout of a door-plug on an Alaska Airlines flight—prompted an audit by FAA of Boeing’s production and key supplier oversight processes. The findings of that investigation so far are deeply concerning. A US Senate investigation, meanwhile, suggests that Boeing's disregard of quality assurance over its commercial aircraft production remained in place through late last year, contradicting leadership's claims that priorities and processes had improved. Allegations about production quality have spread from the 737 line to that of the 787. And Boeing now also faces potential criminal charges for allegedly failing to meet the terms of a 2021 agreement with the US Department of Justice that shielded it from prosecution for two fatal MAX crashes.

Yet business continued at the Dubai AGM very much as usual, with Boeing a top sponsor of the event and hosting one of two gala receptions, new BCA CEO Stephanie Pope making a brief appearance, and senior airline executives repeating public statements about how they wished Boeing well, and that Boeing was needed.

For airlines and lessors, of course, Boeing is very much needed. Nobody wants a narrowbody/widebody supplier monopoly—probably not even Airbus, which cannot supply the number of new aircraft necessary should BCA fail. A consistently high-quality output of Boeing airliners would be good for the entire industry, undoubtedly.

But the appalling hole that Boeing has dug for itself is for Boeing leadership to crawl out of. Airlines, some of whose own customers and crew died in the two MAX crashes or could have been seriously injured in the blowout, should not be part of the PR campaign to restore Boeing’s credibility. Only Boeing can do that.

That's why there should be less talk from airline executives about their need for Boeing, which is a sad but understood fact. Another good step would be for airline executives to call for a moratorium on taking part in the air show circuses where they unveil aircraft models and sign up for large new aircraft deals in the manufacturer’s chalet for the purpose of a media photo call. No airline executive needs to add to their carbon footprint by flying to a remote field in southern England, have a lukewarm lunch and watch carbon-spewing military aircraft dancing in the flying display outside the manufacturer’s chalet balcony. Aircraft deals can be sealed in more discrete settings, and the seriousness of what Boeing has brought upon itself and its customers demands discretion at the very least.

At the Farnborough International Airshow this July, airlines can show their contempt for the supply chain disruptions in general, and for Boeing’s poor and reckless leadership in particular, by staying away.