شركة Boeing وسلسلة الحوادث المستمرة.. هل سينتهي الكابوس؟

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00:00Hello, everyone, and welcome to this special interview.

00:24It took Boeing Company decades to build its reputation as one of the most reliable and

00:29trusted airplane manufacturers in the world.

00:32But it took her only a few years to undo it all, as regulators, airlines, and even investors

00:37question this decade-long reputation and credibility.

00:41So what's Boeing's plan to navigate this crisis?

00:44And what's the company's strategy when it comes to quality and safety control?

00:48Here to discuss these questions and more is Dr. Brendan Nelson, president of Boeing Global

00:53and senior vice president of the Boeing Company.

00:57Thank you so much, Dr. Brendan, for being with us here at CNBC Arabia.

01:00It's my pleasure, May.

01:02So first, I would like to start with your presence here in the region.

01:05You were in Qatar.

01:06Now you're in UAE.

01:07And I think that you have a planned trip in Saudi Arabia.

01:09What are you aiming to achieve from these trips in the region?

01:12Well, the most important thing is relationships and partnerships.

01:16And the region, the Middle East, the Gulf countries are extraordinarily important, not

01:21just in global affairs, but certainly in the relationships that we have as the Boeing

01:26Company.

01:27We have some of our biggest, most important customers in the region.

01:31And we have 3,000 employees right across the region.

01:35We're increasing those numbers.

01:37And it's extremely important to us that it isn't just about commercial relationships

01:41in the commercial space or in the defense space, but also investing in people, the development

01:47of products, of innovation in the region, and supporting the visions of the leadership

01:53of countries like the United Arab Emirates, like Qatar, like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

01:58and others in the region.

02:00So Dr. Brendan, let's discuss Boeing Company and this year, 2024.

02:04It seems like Boeing is facing a lot of difficulties and bad headlines since the start of the year

02:10around safety incidents airplanes, Boeing airplanes are facing.

02:15So when you look at what's happening recently and the last couple of years, in your mind,

02:20is Boeing Company losing its credibility and its reputation, decades-long reputation, as

02:28a safe and well credible, reliable manufacturer of airplanes?

02:33Well, that is a judgment for others to make.

02:36It's certainly by any standard been a very challenging year for us.

02:39And we were devastated by the event that started the year off on the 5th of January

02:45with Alaska Air and the plug door.

02:48We paid tribute to the passengers and the crews of that airline.

02:53And since that event, a whole series of things have been done by the company.

02:57Over the last three years, we'd introduced a quality management system, a safety management

03:03system, which is widely regarded by the industry as being absolutely world class, and many

03:08other things.

03:09And then when you see this event, you can imagine how extraordinarily disappointed we've

03:13been.

03:14So since that time, we've worked hand-in-glove with the National Transport Safety Board,

03:19who completed its inquiry into the origin of the incident.

03:23We're working very closely with the FAA at the moment.

03:27We will fully respond to the FAA audit at the end of this month.

03:32And we know that everything that we have put in place will not only address the issues

03:39that have led to this, but lead to an even higher standard.

03:43And it's really important for us that we meet our own standards, let alone the standards

03:48that are quite rightly demanded by our customers, the flying public, and the regulators.

03:53I should also add that across 20 of our production sites in the United States and outside of

03:59it, we've now had quality stand-downs for 70,000 of our employees.

04:05That means taking people away from their workplace for a full day to actually ask them, what

04:11are your concerns?

04:12What are your ideas?

04:13What do you think we should be doing better?

04:16And we've received 30,000 suggestions around tools, equipment, the way inspections are

04:22done.

04:23One of the key issues that's led to this is what's called travel work, where work that

04:28should be completely finished to 100 per cent standard is not done so, including from

04:34some of our suppliers.

04:36And our major supplier on fuselages, for example, Spirit in Wichita, we're engaged in negotiations

04:42to reintegrate that into our company.

04:46And we've got our own people in the Spirit factory at the moment across 50 points looking

04:51at the quality of what comes.

04:53And we've already reduced any failures in quality by 80 per cent.

04:58So we've brought in independent Admiral Kirkland Donald in, who ran the US nuclear submarine

05:05program for many years, with an independent team and said to him, you look at anything

05:09you like and tell us what we need to do.

05:12And similarly for our customers, any of our customers, they are invited to and have been

05:17coming to the factory with their engineers to look at what we do, how we do it, and to

05:23satisfy themselves that we're meeting the standards that they expect and we have a responsibility

05:28to provide.

05:29Sheikh Ahmad bin Saeed al-Maktoum, Chairman and CEO of Emirates Airlines, a couple of

05:34days ago said that they're not happy with what's going on with Boeing and that they

05:40expressed some kind of frustration with Boeing's safety crisis.

05:44What do you say to Sheikh Ahmad?

05:45Well, firstly, an outstanding leader of one of the great, truly great global airlines.

05:52And he's right.

05:53He's absolutely right.

05:54And he will be reassured to know that in addition to the things that I have just gone through

06:01in terms of what we're doing to address things, to get our act together, as he might describe

06:07it, we've also had some changes in the leadership of our company and we are very determined

06:14that we will have all of these quality and safety issues addressed as quickly as we can,

06:23but in no way that will undermine our objective of 100 per cent quality on every plane at

06:30every time.

06:31And we will be through this as soon as we practically can.

06:34And obviously that's having an impact on the deliveries that we bring to our customers,

06:40but we are not going to chase rate at any risk to safety and quality.

06:48Do you think that this crisis has impacted orders received by Boeing?

06:54Did Boeing lose orders to Airbus because of the safety incidents that happened with Boeing?

07:01Well, May, that's something for others to speculate upon and make judgements about.

07:07All we can do is maintain our confidence that we make the best planes in the world,

07:12the most reliable planes, the planes that are the most efficient, the planes in which

07:18the public has confidence.

07:20And our objective is to make sure that every single plane we make is one that we can be

07:27proud of and our customers can fly efficiently, safely and with comfort for their passengers.

07:35But in terms of orders, that's a matter for others to make judgements about.

07:39Since you are here in the region, we heard from Etihad Airways that they're getting ready

07:44to have some new orders with Boeing.

07:47And we've heard the same with Riyadh Air, the new airlines, the new Saudi airlines,

07:51that they're looking to expand their fleets.

07:54So where are we today with negotiations and agreements with whether Etihad Airlines and

07:58as well as Riyadh Air when it comes to new orders?

08:02Well, I know you have to ask these questions, but I don't have to answer them all.

08:07And they're really matters for the customers themselves.

08:10And we don't talk publicly about the discussions we have with our customers.

08:15I will say that we are immensely proud that Riyadh Air and Saudia last year awarded to

08:21Boeing the fifth biggest commercial deal in our history of 121 787 Dreamliners.

08:29We've been working very hard on the narrow body campaign, working with Riyadh Air.

08:35And also that Etihad, which is one of our, again, one of our most valued customers, has

08:41the largest number of 787s in the region.

08:45So we'll be working hard to make sure that we support our customers, whatever they choose

08:50to do.

08:52Is Boeing facing any difficulties when it comes to delivery?

08:56Because Etihad took delivery of three Boeing 787 Dreamliners later in Feb this year, which

09:04is around eight months later than scheduled.

09:07So to what extent do you think that there will be delivery issues with Boeing this year

09:11and the coming years?

09:12Well, I can't speculate about delivery issues in the out years.

09:17We do know at the moment that we have some supply chain constraints.

09:22In fact, in some cases they are considerable, which impact both us and our competitors.

09:28And in relation to 787, we do have some supply chain constraints which are making delivery,

09:35which are challenging delivery schedules.

09:37Our customers know this.

09:39We work personally with every single customer to do everything we can to make sure we deliver

09:45the planes when we said we would and when they need them.

09:49But we are also, I'd also say to you that, look, we're in the aerospace business of course,

09:54but this is the most complex operating environment that business has seen for decades.

10:00With an energy transition afoot, we're in the process of decarbonising, very constrained

10:06supply chains that will still continue through most of this year, and also in many cases

10:11very tight labour markets, and not to mention the geopolitical changes that we're seeing

10:16in the world.

10:17We're confident that we can deal with all of these things, and I think the thing that

10:22should give people confidence, and certainly gives me confidence, I can assure you as one

10:26of the, privileged to be one of the senior leaders of the company, is we've got unprecedented

10:31demand for our products.

10:34Imagine having this conversation three years ago, when we were in the midst of the pandemic,

10:39hardly anyone was flying, airlines had their planes parked, and here now we've got extraordinary

10:46and insatiable demand for commercial aeroplanes and commercial flight.

10:51For reasons that are not all good, defence budgets are increasing, in fact a real increase

10:56of nearly 7% globally in defence expenditure last year.

11:01And we also are working at the very edge of technology, the Starliner is about to take

11:07people to the International Space Station, that's a Boeing built space liner of course,

11:13and of course we have the smartest people in the world.

11:17So in terms of our future, we have demand, we have innovation, technology, and super

11:24smart people.

11:25So you've got to be confident.

11:28So Doctor, one last question, and let's talk about the pursuit of carbon neutral aviation.

11:33How far are we from flying green, completely green?

11:39Flying completely carbon free?

11:41Yes.

11:42Our objective, the industry's objective which we support is to be carbon neutral by 2050.

11:49Now we are still a long way from that, and the key elements are energy, what are the

11:54fuels that go into the engines, sustainable aviation fuel, seven ways of making it, is

12:02the near term best option for all of us, and in the Middle East especially we're working

12:07with partners to develop technologies to produce SAF, then it's propulsion, the engines

12:15that are designed and how they're built, the aerodynamic design of aeroplanes, and then

12:21what happens in the flight deck, the technology which improves the efficiency of flight.

12:26So at this stage we're 2.5% of global emissions in the aviation space, we're about 12% of

12:33the transport sector, but we are absolutely determined, we have a responsibility to our

12:39generation and the next one to decarbonise.

12:42This is our social licence.

12:4480% of people on the planet have not yet flown in a plane.

12:49You and I at times think, oh I've got to catch another plane, but 80% of human beings on

12:54this planet have never flown.

12:56So we have a complex environment where we have to decarbonise in the design and manufacture

13:02of the planes, the propulsion systems, the energies that we use, and at the same time

13:08increase the capacity for flight so that human beings can fly to see one another, conduct

13:13business and take their cultures to the world.

13:16Thank you so much doctor for this interview, Dr Brendan Nelson, President of Boeing Global

13:21and Senior Vice President of the Boeing Company.

13:23Thank you so much sir.

13:25My pleasure Mae.

13:28And so ladies and gentlemen, this is the end of this special interview.

13:32Thank you so much for watching.

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