In watching Boeing struggle to fix and recover from the two 737 Max crashes, it has occurred to me that perhaps this was all set in motion when Boeing moved its corporate headquarters to Chicago. I think this not only established a physical distance, but a psychological one as well.
After all the corporate portion of the company primarily bows to Wall Street and their investors. They spend their time wooing investors and government officials and have no proximity to the nuts and bolts of their company. It would seem to me this lulls them into thinking those elites are their primary customers and completely forgetting that their real customers are the purchasers of and passengers on their airplanes. Without them, they have no company to promote.
Watching them trying to deal with these two plane crashes has been a lesson on what not to do and how not to behave. I sincerely hope they get their act together and are able to put the pieces back together. Boeing is important to our area and has always been a source of pride. I’m hoping going forward the corporate elite will remember who their actual customers are. If they successfully and constantly deliver a premium product, Wall Street and their investors will remain happy. Deliver a shoddy product and no one will be happy and they will disappear.
Ann Distefano
Marysville
