Texas AG Ken Paxton (R) is investigating a major supplier of aerospace company Boeing, whose flagship 737 MAX aircraft has been linked to a series of deadly accidents since 2018.
Paxton expressed deep concern about potential risks associated with certain airplane models that could be life-threatening to Texans.
Paxton instructed Spirit Aerosystems to provide documents related to manufacturing defects leading to the grounding of Boeing planes and information about the company's decision to dismiss whistleblower Joshua Dean after he reported the defects.
Paxton's request for information also hinted that the company's diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policy might be connected to recent dangerous mishaps.
“While we do not comment on investigations, Spirit is wholly focused on providing the highest quality products to all our customers, to include the Boeing Company,” said Spirit spokesman Joe Buccino to The Hill.
The Hill has reached out to Boeing for comment.
Paxton demanded the company prove its claim that a diverse workplace improves product quality, enhances performance, and helps make better decisions.
He also asked the company to explain how employee demographics for race, national origin, sexual orientation, and age had changed since the adoption of the 2022 DEI policy.
Paxton’s investigation comes after a string of costly and sometimes deadly accidents involving Boeing aircraft, including the crashes of 737s in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019, resulting in the deaths of 346 people.
In January, a door on an Alaska Airlines 737 — part of the plane manufactured by Spirit — blew off the plane.
In February, Boeing ceased deliveries of 50 planes following Spirit's report of incorrectly drilled holes during window installation, as reported by The Associated Press. reported.
Dean, who was a quality auditor at the factory before his firing, shared with National Public Radio,“We’re having a pizza party because we’re lowering defects. But we’re not lowering defects. We just ain’t reporting them, you know what I mean?” told “But we’re not lowering defects. We just ain’t reporting them, you know what I mean?”
Dean indicated that Spirit was sending a message by his treatment, warning others with its actions: “If you are too loud, we will silence you.”
The CEO of Emirates airlines informed the Financial Times in February that Boeing's focus on short-term financial returns over safety and high quality engineering had led to a “progressive decline.
“This is the last chance saloon,” said CEO Tim Clark, urging Boeing to thoroughly review its manufacturing processes and avoid cutting corners.
On Thursday, the American Prospect published a critical investigation into Boeing's trend of dismissing or pushing out senior engineers over the past decade.
The statement noted that aerospace manufacturer McDonnell Douglas had previously recommended that engineers needed four years on staff to become proficient at their jobs, while the head of the Boeing engineers union shared that “the average employee assigned to the 737 program has been at Boeing just five years.” published The Prospect cited a 'longtime Boeing executive who is involved in various efforts to save the company' who told reporters that 'for comparison’s sake… the average employee assigned to the 777 program had between 15 and 20 years of experience.'
For some, the issues at Boeing are linked to the broader increase of consolidated business interests in American life in recent decades.
In a February
, Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan referenced Boeing as an example of a once-great American corporation hollowed out by monopoly and management consulting.
A decrease in 'quality is one of the harms that most economists expect from monopolization, because firms that face little competition have limited motivation to enhance their products,” Khan said. speechShe pointed out that 'reporting suggests that Boeing executives began to view their knowledgeable workforce as a cost, not an asset, with tragic outcomes.”
While conservatives sometimes focus on the dangers of monopoly as a driver of issues at Boeing and other corporations — Paxton has led investigations of big tech companies on those grounds — they have also targeted other potential culprits.
Paxton’s order comes amid a broader push by conservative policymakers and thought leaders that blames diversity initiatives for a wide range of failures in American corporate life.
“The seemingly harmless notion of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) has been manipulated to push policies that expressly favor some demographic groups to the detriment of others,” Gardner Pate, chief of staff for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R),
In a blog post called “Diversity is going to get us killed,” conservative writer Rod Dreher
the problems at Boeing to the companies hiring policies. wrote last year.
“I’m not saying that non-white or non-Asian engineers are subpar. I’m saying that if you hire for any reason other than excellence, you are weakening your product or service.” linked Four of Paxton’s 14 demands for information from Spirit concern company diversity and hiring programs.
“I will hold any company responsible if they fail to maintain the standards required by the law and will do everything in my power to ensure manufacturers take passenger safety seriously,” the attorney general wrote.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) is investigating a major supplier of aerospace company Boeing, whose flagship 737 MAX aircraft has been linked to a series of deadly accidents since 2018. “The potential risks associated with certain airplane models are deeply concerning and potentially life-threatening to Texans,” Paxton said in a statement. Paxton ordered Spirit Aerosystems…
“I will hold any company responsible if they fail to maintain the standards required by the law and will do everything in my power to ensure manufacturers take passenger safety seriously,” the attorney general wrote.
