Teddy Roosevelt once had a sign on his desk in the White House that read ‘The Buck Stops Here.’
It simply meant that, as President, he accepted the burden of responsibility for anything that happened.
That’s a mantra that the airline manufacturer Boeing has to adopt.
Right or wrong, the buck stops with Boeing. In the wake of the near-disastrous incident in which an Alaska Airlines panel blew out from the fuselage in mid-flight on a 737 MAX 9, the famous company that helped put men in space now faces the biggest battle for the future of its existence.
It has to reestablish its credibility.
Technically speaking, Boeing might have farmed out the installation of the fuselage door and the subsequent screws that have come under fire, but remember that the buck stops with them. The aircraft has had a troubled history but remember, this is a company that went to space. Perhaps this will be an easy fix for Boeing.
What will be harder is the battle for perception in the court of public opinion. Working against the company is a history of problems with the Max program. This particular version is a bigger plane with bigger engines, but still in the same family.
It just makes you wonder if this is the beginning of the end for the venerable Boeing. Will the company remain committed to the Max jet?
We know Boeing will continue. After all, there are very few airline manufacturers in the world with the pedigree and relevance of a Boeing. You just don’t throw away all those years of success. We do live in a world of, what have you done for me lately, however.
But it is that very relevance that the company has to work first on protecting.
It will just have to be more judicious with whom it does business with. Because when it is all said and done, the buck stops here.
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