Brace for Impact

Boeing Boeing gone?

A retired Boeing worker, John Barnett, was found dead last week in a hotel car park in South Carolina apparently from a "self-inflicted" gunshot wound. Barnett had testified days before in a whistleblower lawsuit against Boeing, claiming that “under-pressure workers had been deliberately fitting sub-standard parts to aircraft on the production line”. Boeing execs have denied Barnett’s claims of corner-cutting, while his family have denied that he died by suicide.

It’s been a wild ride and Boeing has been facing increasing scrutiny over safety issues in the last few years. Fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 claimed the lives of hundreds of passengers and crew. More recently, plane spotters have shared videos of distressing mishaps: a tire falling off a plane during its take-off, landing gear leaking hydraulic fluid and a cargo plane with an engine on fire over Florida.

The causes of some of these incidents are already known. One dramatic episode on a United flight was the result bubble wrap being “ingested” into the engine. Last week, around fifty people were injured during a flight after the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner dropped unexpectedly, throwing passengers to the ceiling. The pilot reported that his instruments had “gone blank” momentarily. “He said for that brief moment he couldn’t control anything and that’s when the plane did what it did.” This incident may be the result of human error and substandard training programs.

In January, a panel on an Alaska Air plane blew out mid-flight prompting the Department of Justice to check whether Boeing complied with settlements made in the wake of previous investigations. Curiously, investigators were told that security footage of the door plug being installed had been overwritten. Documents requested by aviation safety experts were also missing.

This is not the first time Boeing has been accused of concealment. A few years ago, the DOJ said Boeing deceived regulators about changes to the automated flight control system on its 737 Max, which were the cause of two major crashes. Boeing’s stock price has taken a few tumbles a couple of times, but shareholders seem to be sticking with the company. United Airlines have changed their order of Boeing Max 10s but still went with Max 9s, reasoning that safety investigations will delay the certification of newer models. However, financial analysts are certainly not optimistic about Boeing’s future.

For some time now, folks who’ve been keeping score have been suspicious that corporate America’s dogmatic commitment to diversity may be leading to a competency crisis. This is not as crazy as mainstream commentary would have you believe – corporate media freak-outs are often a sign that you’re over the target. Wired breathlessly reported that a “far-right conspiracy theory” posited “without any proof” claims ESG and DEI hiring practices might result in unqualified people being placed in key roles.

Would climate ideologues sabotage their own products to scare people into flying less? Would nefarious forces oversee the demise of an American company in order to bring Chinese replacements? Would the top brass at Boeing ruin its market leadership and bow to expectation of diversity just for financial reward from wealthy investors?

Clearly, the folks at Wired have no imagination.

You may remember an eye-opening 2023 essay which pulled apart all the ways America’s systems are under strain from a loss of meritocracy, a disinterest in excellence. While standardization in the post-war years provided opportunities for those not born to wealth or connections, investor Harold Robertson writes that the civil rights movement of the 1960s initiated a corrosive process which is now threatening, in some cases, our very lives. Starting in the courts, he argues, the creation of protected classes set up a clash: “The result has been clear: any time meritocracy and diversity come into direct conflict, diversity must take priority.”

You only have look to the highest positions in the land to see how this goes. Just a few years ago, President Biden said he would pick the most qualified person for his Supreme Court nomination and for sure, that person would be a black woman. Same for his Vice President. Maybe their appointments help little girls dream of greatness, but no doubt many other folks got the memo: your hard work and expertise don’t matter if you haven’t got the right intersectional points. Less Peter Principle; maybe closer to Dilbert Principle.. I’m not denigrating women’s abilities, but it’s hard to see how lowering fitness standards of physically demanding jobs just so we can become police officers or soldiers is a good thing.

Back to Boeing.. If the truth about its shabby track record is ever uncovered, it may be way less sensational than a global plot to unravel everything that’s good about the West – it could just be a case of old-fashioned human greed. There are more than a few industry watchers who say that Boeing has not been the same since it merged with storied aerospace company McDonnell-Douglas almost 30 years ago. As one columnist put it, Boeing had been “an association of engineers devoted to building amazing flying machines” before McDonnell-Douglas “beancounters” turned it into a company “devoted to keeping costs down and favoring upgrading older models at the expense of wholesale innovation.”

Whether greed or some simmering social Marxism is driving the lack of excellence plaguing our nation, it could be said that the foundational fact is that the love of many has grown cold. The incivility and poor service people noticed during the pandemic comes at the end of long parade of destructive ideologies undermining the church, the family, virtue, patriotism and every good thing. Outrage and despair take turns in the headlines and there is plenty of blame to go round. Yes, we have inflicted these wounds on ourselves and perhaps even our best efforts will not put everything back the way it was.

We are told we can’t love our country because its nasty. You can love your neighbor but only to post about it on social media. Life is worth living but only when it is in our control. You definitely shouldn’t love God and you shouldn’t even love yourself if you happen to be born into an “oppressor” class. Real love – for life, for country and for each other – is sought but spurned all at once.

No mind. The call on the saints is the same as ever. The Preacher of Ecclesiastes concluded whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. Do it with love. St Paul exhorts Christians in a similar manner: “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.” Solomon might have been feeling a bit glum observing the meaninglessness of life, but the Apostle’s admonition comes straight out of joy: “knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.”

We may not design planes or run companies or call the White House home, (Deo volente, you might!) but Pastor Fisk pointed this out in a recent sermon – you do have power to impact the world. We can ask Jesus Christ to help us understand the power we have and how we can wield it for everybody who is under our care. Politicians are seeing a need for people to turn to God to recover “moral values” – it can start with you.

Because there is consolation in Christ

Because there is comfort of love

Because there is fellowship of the Spirit

Because there is affection and mercy

Because he is risen and coming back soon..

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.