May 15, 2024

More Turbulence Ahead for Boeing

Two dead whistleblowers is having a chilling effect on 10 more at a time when the company needs some good results and PR.

The hits keep coming. A few months ago, we wrote about the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) pending rubber-glove probe of the aviation monolith following Alaska Airlines’s now-infamous door panel blowout (Things That Go Boeing in the Night). At the time, only one whistleblower had died under mysterious circumstances. Now we’re up to two, the latest having succumbed to “complications from a rapidly progressing infection, the specifics of which remain unclear,” according to The Washington Times. The upshot is that one day, this latest victim was a perfectly healthy 45-year-old, and the next, he was the casualty of an unknown, rapidly spreading sepsis.

Meanwhile, the “suicide” victim reportedly told a close friend, “If anything happens to me, it’s not suicide.” While the friend’s statement has not been independently corroborated, surrounding evidence strongly suggests that the victim had no intention of committing suicide, lending credibility to this lone account. Regardless, the very fact of these sudden, consecutive whistleblower deaths has understandably led to fusillades of conjecture and suspicions in social media.

Beyond these two erstwhile whistleblowers, 10 additional witnesses had been preparing to detail their accounts of Boeing’s widespread manufacturing improprieties. However, their attorneys are now raising apprehensions about whether their clients are willing to testify, given the potential fate that apparently awaits anyone raising such alarms. If they ultimately decide to testify, however, let’s just hope their life insurance policies are fully paid up!

Piling on with an elbow drop from the top turnbuckle, the FAA is now investigating Boeing’s potential failure to complete required manufacturing inspections on its 787 Dreamliner, to include falsification of aircraft records by Boeing employees in an effort to cover up these omissions. No worries: these were merely inspections to ensure the huge aircraft’s composite wings were sufficiently bonded to its fuselage. Notwithstanding the impeccable safety record of these aircraft, the thought of a wing folding up over the mid-Pacific on a 300-ish passenger jet undoubtedly is sending bonus shockwaves through the public’s psyche.

Indeed, the only thing dropping faster than public confidence in (or whistleblowers at) Boeing is its stock price. Baked into its valuation is conclusive evidence that the two 737 MAX 8 catastrophes, the inflight door punchout failure, the whistleblowers’ suspicious deaths, and the FAA’s investigation into 787 inspection misconduct have all taken their toll. In the four years since the beginning of these calamities, Boeing shares have plummeted from values in the $300-plus per share range to today’s $100-plus range. Additionally, against the other manufacturer in the world’s airliner duopoly, Airbus, Boeing has dramatically lost market share. Five years ago, the two companies were in a virtual dead heat. Today, Airbus dominates, with a third more deliveries and almost twice as many orders on deck for mid- and large-sized commercial airliners than its hapless rival.

Without wishing the same, if it’s possible to suffer worse optics than those Boeing is currently enduring, we’re not sure how. We thus close by reiterating our previous advice: Boeing, get your act together. And do it soon.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.