Contrary to the title of a famed 20th century novel by Thomas Wolfe, you can go home again.
At least, that is the hope as a new CEO takes the helm at Boeing. Kelly Ortberg has indicated that he will base his operations in the Seattle area, and the news has generated speculation that the aerospace giant will return to its birthplace.
“It’s good that the new CEO will be based in Seattle, but they should move headquarters back to Washington state as well,” Sen. Patty Murray said.
“Now the rest of the headquarters needs to move back home to rejoin our world-class aviation workforce,” Sen. Maria Cantwell said.
“He knows the heritage of Boeing. He knows the heritage of Seattle. It would make sense moving there, that he move the headquarters back,” an industry consultant told The Seattle Times.
Boeing was founded in Seattle in 1916. It remained centered there for nearly a century, growing into the world’s largest airplane manufacturer. But in 2001, the headquarters were moved to Chicago, and in 2017 the company landed in Northern Virginia.
Throughout this vagabond experience, Boeing’s largest plant has remained in Everett, and other facilities dot the map of Washington. The corporation is the state’s second-largest private employer, surpassed by Amazon in recent years after decades of being No. 1. Meanwhile, thousands of vendors and suppliers help maintain Boeing’s ties to the state.
Yet, there is a disconnect when executives are based in the Washington, D.C., area and the largest percentage of workers are nearly 3,000 miles away. Whether it is a coincidence or a direct cause, a series of missteps and mistakes in the commercial airplane division have belied the company’s mission and damaged its reputation since executives fled the Seattle area.
Most recently, those missteps have been manifested as tragedy. A poorly designed — and poorly regulated — navigation system contributed to crashes of 737 Max planes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Then, in January, a door plug flew off a different model of 737 Max shortly after takeoff from Portland.
Investigations have revealed a lax certification process on the part of the Federal Aviation Administration and lax safety on the part of Boeing. Those investigations also have generated claims that Boeing’s culture has changed over the past two decades, with an increased focus on cutting costs and boosting profits.
The result has been damage to Boeing’s reputation for safety — in an industry where reputation is everything. Safety is the paramount duty for a company that relies on airlines to purchase their product — a product that transports millions of passengers each year. As The Seattle Times noted this week: “Boeing leaders attended the recent International Airshow in Farnborough, England, but for the first time in years didn’t take any planes.” The company reported a $1.4 billion loss for the second quarter.
It might be a stretch to suggest that all this is a result of Boeing fleeing its Seattle home. But as the company attempts to reset, reexamine and rejuvenate, Ortberg should focus on every corporate decision from the past two-plus decades — starting with the move of the headquarters.
A return to Washington would not solve all of Boeing’s woes. Officials have announced reforms in the wake of the door-plug failure, negotiations with labor unions are looming,and questions about the corporate culture are lingering. But when things get difficult, it can be helpful to go home again.
