When the board of Boeing Co. held its first formal meeting about seven weeks after the initial crash of the 737 MAX in late 2018, executives did not hold in-depth discussions on jet safety, according to new details from the company’s internal documents.
Months later, the current Boeing executive told reporters that the company’s directors had moved quickly to address the crash, according to excerpts from company documents that contained a lawsuit for shareholders.
This and other new information in the lawsuit questioned whether Boeing executives pressured management on safety issues or seriously considered landing the plane before a second crash of the 737 MAX in early 2019.
Part of Boeing’s internal documents, which indicate the dates and details of the meetings held by the directors and what was discussed, are cited in the shareholders’ action according to which the directors breached their fiduciary duties in the management supervision. The lawsuit also alleges that David Calhoun, then the CEO who later became CEO, exaggerated to journalists the degree to which directors addressed safety concerns between and after the two accidents.
The lawsuit alleges that Calhoun, who became CEO in early 2020, conducted a public relations campaign that “insisted that the board acted more urgently and was more committed than it had really been. “after the two crashes that killed 346 people in October 2018 and March 2019. The lawsuit cites Boeing’s internal emails and other documents that were not previously public.