United States senators have grilled the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Boeing, Dave Calhoun, over the planemaker’s safety record in the country.

This overshadowed his apology to families who lost loved ones in two 737 MAX crashes and acceptance of responsibility after a January mid-air emergency.

Calhoun faced repeated questions about how much he is paid, Boeing’s safety culture, and why he is not immediately resigning instead of retiring by year’s end, at a hearing before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations on Tuesday.

“I am proud of every action we have taken” Calhoun said in response to harsh questioning from Republican Senator Josh Hawley who asked, “why haven’t you resigned?” and accused Calhoun of “strip-mining” Boeing while earning a multimillion-dollar pay package.

Calhoun’s total compensation in 2023 rose to $32.8 million, a 45 per cent increase from the $22.6 million he received the previous year.

The hearing marked the first time Calhoun had faced lawmakers’ questions and put the spotlight on Boeing’s souring safety reputation and the CEO who said in March that he plans to step down by year-end amid a management shakeup by Boeing.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the subcommittee, called the proceeding a “moment of reckoning” for Boeing and told the hearing there was overwhelming evidence that the U.S. Justice Department should pursue prosecution against Boeing.

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“As a former federal prosecutor and state attorney general I think that the evidence is near-overwhelming to justify that prosecution,” Reuters quoted Blumenthal as saying.

Prosecutors have until July 7 to inform a federal judge in Texas of their plans. The Justice Department found in May that Boeing had failed to “design, implement, and enforce a compliance and ethics program” as part of complying with a deferred prosecution agreement following the fatal crashes.

Calhoun took responsibility for incidents that have thrust Boeing into crisis over the last five years, acknowledging that the Alaska Airlines ALK.N door plug incident on January 5 was the result of a manufacturing defect.

Boeing also took responsibility for the development of a key software system linked to the 2018 and 2019 fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia which killed a combined 346 people.

“I am here in the spirit of transparency and I am here to take responsibility,” Calhoun told reporters earlier as he walked into the hearing room.

At the beginning of the hearing, Calhoun turned to the crash victims’ families and said: “I apologise for the grief that we have caused,” adding the company was “totally committed” to addressing safety concerns and calling the families’ losses “gut-wrenching”.

Since the January 5 mid-air blowout of a door plug on a 737 MAX 9 jet, scrutiny of the planemaker by regulators and airlines has intensified.

The National Transportation Safety Board said four key bolts were missing from the Alaska Airlines plane. The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the incident.

On May 30, Boeing delivered a high-quality improvement plan to the FAA after Whitaker gave the company 90 days to develop a comprehensive effort to address “systemic quality-control issues.”

He has barred the company from expanding production of the MAX.

The Star