Boeing CEO testifies before Senate after another whistleblower comes forward | The Excerpt

On Wednesday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: USA TODAY Consumer Travel Reporter Zach Wichter breaks down the Boeing CEO's testimony, after a new whistleblower complaint. Cities are breaking temperature records in parts of the Midwest and Northeast. Check out our Sunday Deep Dive episode on extreme heat. California wildfires force evacuations, while Sonoma County wineries avoid worst-case-scenario fears. USA TODAY Breaking News Reporter Cybele Mayes-Osterman talks about Black veterans celebrated on a Juneteenth trip to Washington. Willie Mays has died at 93.

Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

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Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Wednesday, June 19th, 2024. This is The Excerpt.

Today, Boeing CEO has testified before a Senate subcommittee, plus cities break temperature records amid a heat wave, and we look at how an honor flight will commemorate black service members on Juneteenth. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun appeared before a Senate subcommittee yesterday where he faced questions about the company's response to safety concerns. His testimony came after a new whistleblower complaint from the airplane manufacturer. I caught up with USA TODAY consumer travel reporter, Zach Wichter for the latest. Zach, thanks for hopping on.

Zach Wichter:

Yeah, my pleasure. Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So Zach, we're hearing about a new whistleblower complaint out of Boeing. What do we know here?

Zach Wichter:

So this whistleblower complaint was just revealed on Tuesday morning and basically, a current employee of Boeing said that there have been some issues with parts that are out of spec or damaged in some way, being improperly documented and possibly installed on airplanes. And because of the ways that the company was allegedly trying to get around these parts being noticed by the FAA, they may have wound up on airplanes.

Boeing for its part says that it's investigating these claims. We heard about the whistleblower from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. So obviously, with all these whistleblower complaints, they have kind of a long tail. We need to see how this plays out, but that's the state of play right now.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah, so we'll hear more about that subcommittee here in a second, Zach, but there have been, as you mentioned, other whistleblowers at this same company. Who else has really kind of caught the headlines in recent years?

Zach Wichter:

I think that what it really comes down to is a lot of these whistleblowers have basically raised concerns about quality control at Boeing. Pretty much all of the complaints that I've heard of are people saying that Boeing is cutting corners or otherwise not implementing the best possible safety practices. And so this latest complaint is really part of this broader trend that's been going on for years. One of the whistleblowers alleged that there was some foreign object debris in 787s, which essentially means things like tools are being left inside the fuselage after they're completed.

Others have said that there are issues with prefabricated fuselage sections that are manufactured by a subcontractor not being delivered to spec and then being joined improperly because they didn't fit together the way that they were supposed to. All kind of indications of a safety issue at Boeing that has been a large part of the reporting about the company now for many years, that basically it has emphasized its performance on Wall Street over its safety culture, and that's part of the reason that it's under so much scrutiny now.

Taylor Wilson:

So Zach, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun appeared before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations yesterday. Did he mention the whistleblowers and also what else stood out to you from his testimony?

Zach Wichter:

He did mention the whistleblowers and he basically said that he has not spoken to any of the whistleblowers, which I thought was very strange. Obviously, these folks have really been high profile in their own way, and so I would've expected that he would've taken some time to sit down with the people within his company who are garnering headlines. Beyond that, a lot of the focus was really on the safety culture at Boeing, people asking about what they're doing to address some of these lapses that we've talked about. There was a moment at the very beginning of his testimony, there were family members of people who died in the previous 737 MAX crashes. He turned around and spoke to them directly before really beginning his testimony.

One thing that I thought was interesting, though maybe not the most important part of his testimony, was he was a little bit evasive on how much money he makes. At one point a senator said to him, "How much do you make?" And he just said, "It's a big number." It's a matter of public record, though; he makes $32.8 million, so I don't really know why he was trying to avoid answering that specific question. At the end of the day, though, he really emphasized that the whole aviation industry works together.

That's something that I talk about all the time in my reporting, that I, as an airline reporter, talk a lot about these issues that happen at Boeing. And it's true, these are high profile, they're worthy of the scrutiny that we give them, but flying is still extremely safe. And the industry, whether it's Boeing or the airlines or the regulators, everyone really works together when a safety incident does happen to address that incident, to try to get to the bottom of what caused it and to do everything they can to prevent it from happening again.

Taylor Wilson:

And beyond yesterday's hearing, Zach, how are Boeing's shortcomings being addressed by regulators?

Zach Wichter:

The FAA has really stepped up its oversight of Boeing. They're working a lot more closely now. I believe the FAA may even have more inspectors on the factory floors. Boeing a few weeks ago had to deliver a safety improvement plan essentially to the regulator. Boeing is also under investigation by the Department of Justice for possible criminal prosecution. And so there are a lot of different branches of the government that are looking into what's going on at Boeing and trying to figure out the best way to get it back on the right path.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, Zach Wichter covers consumer travel for USA TODAY. Great insight as always. Thanks, Zach.

Zach Wichter:

Yep, my pleasure. Thanks for having me on.

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Taylor Wilson:

Cities are breaking temperature records this week in parts of the central and northeastern US. A heat wave continues to bake much of the country in what officials are warning could become a deadly weather event. Some 80 million people from Indiana to the East coast were under a heat advisory or excessive heat warning yesterday. And New York Governor Kathy Hochul has activated the state's Emergency Operation Center in response to high temperatures expected to last until the weekend.

New York State will open its beaches and public pools early in time for people to use them over the Juneteenth holiday today and under its heat emergency plan, New York City is opening its cooling centers for the first time this year. The city of Syracuse, New York hit 94 degrees, topping a record from 1994 and in Chicago, O'Hare International Airport broke a record of 96 degrees set in 1957. For more on extreme heat, you can check out our Sunday deep dive episode from last weekend. We have a link in today's show notes.

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A group of wildfires in California are scorching several areas, forcing evacuations of thousands from their homes and threatening the state's vineyards. But firefighters reported yesterday that injuries have been minimal. One fire was 40% contained and appears to have missed the region's noted grape growing lands. The blaze, dubbed locally as the Point Fire, started Sunday and had put wineries and residents in Healdsburg in Sonoma County on edge. Elsewhere in California, firefighters are battling many other wildfires, including a massive blaze burning outside Los Angeles, prompting more than 1,000 people to evacuate.

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Today is Juneteenth. Three years after it was made a federal holiday, it marks the day the last African-American slaves were notified that they had been freed, according to the National Museum of African-American History and Culture. Today a group of 26 black veterans will fly to Washington DC as part of an honor flight to commemorate black service members on Juneteenth. I spoke with USA TODAY breaking news reporter Cybele Mayes-Osterman to learn more. Cybele, thanks for hopping on.

Cybele Mayes-Osterman:

Thanks so much.

Taylor Wilson:

So Cybele, would you please just start by telling us about Marian D. Elder and her story in the military?

Cybele Mayes-Osterman:

She served in three different branches of the military, beginning in 1973 when she joins the Army fresh out of high school. And then she went on to join the Navy after that in 1980 and then the Air Force in 1984. Now, once she was in the Air Force, she got to travel all around the world, visit a bunch of different countries and different states.

She did tell me that unfortunately, she definitely faced some instances of discrimination as a black woman serving in the military. She said she didn't always have the same opportunities that were open to her white male counterparts, which is why she chose to go into medical service partially. She gave an example where she said when she was stationed in as a medic during some field exercises, she would have to sleep in the back of an ambulance while some men were allowed to sleep in tents.

Taylor Wilson:

So Cybele, she and other black veterans will be taking an honor flight to Washington today on Juneteenth. What is this flight and how did the idea for it come about?

Cybele Mayes-Osterman:

This flight is being organized by a program called the Honor Flight Network, which started about nine years ago, and it brings veterans on all-expenses-paid trips to Washington DC to honor them for their service. Now, I spoke with a member of the board of directors of the organization, John McCaskill. He told me he noticed that black veterans hadn't been participating in the program quite as much, possibly because historically they haven't always been recognized for their service as much, so he wanted to do this flight for them specifically on Juneteenth as a way to show them that extra bit of appreciation.

Taylor Wilson:

And who are some of the other vets expected to take this trip?

Cybele Mayes-Osterman:

There will be 26 veterans on this trip specifically, and those include one veteran who is 101 years old, three recipients of the Purple Heart, including one that also received the Bronze Star, and also four women, including Marian.

Taylor Wilson:

You know, Cybele, black Americans have served in the military really since the Revolutionary War. Can you help us understand their part of American military history and how they've often fought for the country while simultaneously facing racism at home?

Cybele Mayes-Osterman:

Black Americans have been participating in the military since the beginning, but they've also had to struggle with racism in the military and at home. In fact, it wasn't until the Civil War that they could even fight on a legal basis after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. After that, Black service members could join the military, but only on a segregated basis until 1948. And even after that, they still faced discrimination and they died in disproportionate numbers in Korea and Vietnam.

Taylor Wilson:

And so what do Black vets participating today hope to get out of this honor flight and going forward, is this something they expect to keep growing every year?

Cybele Mayes-Osterman:

Well, I can say Marian is super excited to go on this trip. She participates in a lot of veterans events in her home city of Atlanta, and she's excited to come back to DC, where she was formerly stationed. And the Honor Flight Network hasn't necessarily decided to make this an annual thing yet. But John McCaskill told me that he's considering trying to organize other honor flights for other minority groups of veterans in the future like Latino-American veterans, or Asian-American veterans.

Taylor Wilson:

Cybele Mayes-Osterman is a breaking news reporter with USA TODAY. Thanks, Cybele.

Cybele Mayes-Osterman:

Thank you so much.

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Taylor Wilson:

Willie Mays has died. The baseball legend was one of the greatest to ever play the game. Mays got 95% of the vote when he was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 1979. That came after a career with the third most home runs all-time when he retired at a record-tying 24 all-star game appearances. He was also one of the best outfielders, perhaps best known for what is considered one of the greatest plays of all time, his running basket catch in the 1954 World Series for the New York Giants against the Cleveland Indians. Mays learned to play the game in Alabama from his father, Willie Sr., who played on all black teams in the segregated South. Father and son played together on a semi-pro steel mill team when the younger Mays was 14. Willie Mays died yesterday after a short illness. He was 93.

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After a lifetime working in public health, Dr. Anthony Fauci shares what it's been like working on the world's deadliest emerging infectious diseases, including becoming the target of conspiracy theories during the COVID-19 pandemic. He recently sat down with USA TODAY Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page in an exclusive to discuss his new memoir On Call, a Doctor's Journey in Public Service. You can find that conversation right here on this feed, beginning at 4:00 PM Eastern Time.

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Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your pods, and if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson, back tomorrow with more of the Excerpt from USA TODAY.