Texas AG Paxton probes Boeing supplier, takes aim at DEI practices

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) has been investigating a major supplier to aerospace company Boeing over its flagship 737 MAX aircraft being linked to a series of fatal crashes since 2018.

“The potential risks associated with certain aircraft models are extremely concerning and could be life-threatening to Texans,” Paxton said in a statement.

Paxton will provide Spirit AeroSystems with documentation of manufacturing defects that led to the grounding of dozens of Boeing planes and the company’s decision to fire whistleblower Joshua Dean after he reported the matter. I ordered.

But part of Paxton’s request for information also suggested that the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies may be linked to a series of recent dangerous incidents.

“While we do not comment on investigations, Spirit is committed to providing the highest quality products to all of our customers, including Boeing,” Spirit spokesperson Joe Buccino told The Hill. Ta.

The Hill has reached out to Boeing for comment.

In his order, Paxton asked the company to “substantiate its claims that ‘a diverse workplace improves the quality of its products…’ ‘It improves quality.'”[s] performance” and/or “useful” [Spirit] …Make better decisions. ”

He also directed the company to explain how its workforce’s “race, national origin, sexual orientation, and age” demographics have changed since implementing the 2022 DEI policy.

Paxton’s investigation follows a series of costly and, in some cases, fatal crashes involving Boeing aircraft. In 2018 and 2019, 737 planes crashed repeatedly in Indonesia and Ethiopia, killing a total of 346 people.

In January, the door of an Alaska Airlines 737 — part of a plane manufactured by Spirit — blown out of the plane.

In February, Boeing halted deliveries of 50 planes after Spirit reported it had accidentally punched a hole during window installation. Associated Press reported.

“We’re reducing defects, so we’re having pizza parties,” said Dean, who was a quality auditor at the plant before being laid off. told National Public Radio.

“But we’re not reducing defects. We’re just not reporting them, you know what I mean?”

Dean claimed Spirit was “sending a message to someone else” about its treatment of him, adding: “If you’re too loud, we’ll silence you.”

In February, Emirates’ CEO told the Financial Times that Boeing had fallen into “progressive decline” because it prioritized short-term profits over safety and quality engineering. Ta.

“We need to review our manufacturing processes to ensure we don’t cut corners,” CEO Tim Clark told the Financial Times. “This is the last chance saloon.”

on thursday, Published by American Prospect magazine A scathing investigation has been conducted into how Boeing fired or forced out senior engineers over the past decade.

Noting that aerospace manufacturer McDonnell Douglas’ previous policy recommended that engineers need four years of service to become proficient on the job, the president of the Boeing Engineers Union said American・Boeing told Prospect that the average employee assigned to the 737 program lasts only five years.

The American Prospect quoted a reporter from “a longtime Boeing executive involved in various efforts to save the company,” saying, “For comparison…the average person assigned to the 777 program… Most employees have been with the company for between 15 and 20 years.”

For some, Boeing’s shortcomings are related to the broader rise of integrated business interests in American life in recent decades.

In a lecture in FebruaryFederal Trade Commission Chairman Lina Khan cited Boeing as an example of a once-great American company that has been hollowed out by monopoly and management consulting.

“Lower quality is one of the harms that most economists expect from monopolies, because firms that face little competition have limited incentive to improve their products,” Kahn said. ” he said.

She said, “Boeing’s management has reportedly begun to view its knowledgeable employees as a cost rather than an asset, with tragic consequences.”

While conservatives sometimes focus on the dangers of monopoly as a contributing factor to problems at Boeing and other companies (Paxton has led investigations into big tech companies for these reasons), there are other potential criminals are also targeted.

Mr. Paxton’s order comes amid a broader push by conservative policymakers and thought leaders to blame diversity efforts for a wide range of failures in American corporate life.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s Chief of Staff Gardner Pate (R) said, “The innocuous-sounding concept of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has become a policy that explicitly favors some demographic groups.” has been manipulated to advance the group to the detriment of other groups.” I wrote it last year.

Conservative author Rod Dreher said in a blog post titled “Diversity Is Killing Us.” connected the problem According to Boeing’s recruitment policy.

“I’m not saying that non-white or non-Asian engineers are substandard. What I’m saying is that if you hire for anything other than excellence, it weakens your product or service. It means becoming.”

Four of Paxton’s 14 requests for information from Spirit concerned the company’s diversity and recruitment programs.

“I hold companies accountable for their failure to maintain the standards required by law, and I will do everything in my power to ensure that manufacturers take passenger safety seriously,” the attorney general wrote.