The Boeing that we think of as the Boeing that built the jet age was really created by the greatest generation, by people who came out of World War II. Give us a sense of the kind of leadership it had and the corporate culture that prevailed. Take us back to the old Boeing, one more driven by engineers and committed to quality. You know, this is a story in part about a change in corporate culture.
Well, Peter Robison, welcome to FRESH AIR. His book is "Flying Blind: The 737 MAX Tragedy And The Fall Of Boeing." Peter Robison is an investigative reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek. The impact on the redesign of its 737 aircraft, he writes, was disastrous. In a new book, he writes that in recent decades, The Boeing Company changed from a company run by engineers who insisted on quality to one that prized profits and shareholder value over safety and embraced strategies of cost-cutting, outsourcing, union busting and co-opting regulators. Our guest today, investigative reporter Peter Robison, says there's another story behind the 737 tragedy. And earlier this month, Boeing admitted liability in the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 in March 2019. In October, a former Boeing executive was indicted for fraud in connection with his role in the 737 certification by the FAA. Much has come to light about the 737 saga - how Boeing misled regulators and kept information from pilots about risks in the plane's software. It might seem like a lifetime ago now, but it was less than three years ago that the Federal Aviation Administration grounded the Boeing 737 Max aircraft after two crashes in the space of five months that killed 346 people.
Air crash investigation radio silence archive#
We'll hear interviews from our archive with Sondheim, as well as people who worked with him, including James Lapine, who wrote the book for the Sondheim musical "Sunday In The Park With George," "Into The Woods" and "Passion." That's starting Wednesday. Before we hear my interview about what led to the two deadly crashes of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft, I want to let you know that later this week, beginning Wednesday, we'll devote FRESH AIR to a three-day tribute to the brilliant composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim.
I'm Dave Davies, in today for Terry Gross.
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