Boeing's issues are a 'long-running PR disaster': Analyst

Boeing's (BA) outgoing CEO Dave Calhoun prepares to testify before a Senate panel on Tuesday, addressing the aerospace giant's safety culture. OAG Senior Analyst John Grant joins Catalysts to dissect the latest developments for the company.

Grant's says "it's not [going to] look good" for Calhoun on Capitol Hill today. He anticipates that whistleblowers will come to the forefront, and this battle is far from over for the airline manufacturer, dubbing it "a long-running PR disaster." Grant emphasizes that for the airline to recover, "a lot of it is just about being open and being honest," cultivating a culture where employees and customers can simply trust them.

Turning to the matter of Calhoun's successor, Grant suggests Boeing is "looking for someone who has been engrained and is well-respected within the industry. Someone with an engineering background with a high degree of competency in the avionics and the production sector."

Watch Yahoo Finance's latest coverage on what to expect from Calhoun's testimony and the Department of Justice's (DOJ) investigation into Boeing.

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This post was written by Angel Smith.

Video transcript

Turning to another big story that we are watching today.

Boeing, the company's outgoing CEO Dave Calhoun, set to testify before the Senate at 2 p.m. Eastern is coming after another whistleblower came forward about the firm.

And while the company is still on the search for a new CEO joining us to unpack all of these challenges for the company we've got John Grant.

John is a senior analyst for the official Airline Guide.

That is an air travel intelligence reference that provide aviation data.

John, thanks so much for being here.

I mean, Capitol Hill was already kind of fired up about skewering Dave Calhoun today.

To what extent do you anticipate that the news of this additional whistleblower coming on the very day that Cal said to testify, is going to heighten what was already going to be a pretty intense situation on Capitol Hill?

Yeah, I there's one man in the world who's wishing it's Wednesday already.

I think, um, and it's, uh, it's not gonna look good.

And of course, you know whistleblowers are going to come out on the day that he is testifying, because that's when it makes more of a story and that rhetoric is playing out and will continue.

You need to play out for Boeing.

I mean, it's a it's a It's a long running PR disaster.

And you know, the show has more additions to, uh, to give us in the coming months.

I suspect so, John, you say it's a long running PR disaster.

The advice?

What advice do you have then for Boeing?

Or what should the priority be in in terms of winning back the trust of shareholders, winning back the trust of customers both those that are flying on the planes but also obviously, the airlines as well?

Yeah, I mean, you know, it's It's multifaceted, isn't it?

You can't just pick one bit.

There is a whole lot of PR reinforcement and credibility that's going to be regained by the company.

A lot of it is around just being open and being honest, quite frankly, and get into a situation where their employees trust them.

It's got an open culture they can deliver on time because airlines have absolutely no idea when they're going to get aircraft from in, and certainly not on on the single ale 737 production line.

Although you know they're having similar issues on the Triple seven X uh, programme as well.

So it's It's all about rebuilding confidence.

And and that's why this whole situation around finding a new CEO trying to restore rebuild All of those factors are so important to the company.

Yeah, John and the Journal was out with a great piece on exactly where.

Maybe those efforts stand right now talking about some of the people that have been considered.

But I guess my question to you is who is best fit from your position or from your view to step in and follow Dave Calhoun and really be able to bring some change or bring some progress here to Boeing in a very timely manner?

Well, I you know, I think ultimately it's not a been counter position.

Um, and I think the airline industry and their customers Boeing's customers are looking for someone who has been ingrained and is well respected within the industry.

So someone from an engineering background with a you know, a high degree of competency in the avionics and the production sector, so you know, it may be dare I say that they need to be looking at someone in Airbus, um, as a potential candidate for this role, even though you know Boeing's preference undoubtedly would be for a US national.

This is a a company that trades on a global basis, and they may have to start headhunting overseas rather than just within the US space.