Boeing CEO Hopes To Dispel Notion "That We're A Bunch Of
Crooks"
In what was perhaps a
version of Richard Nixon's famous statement made during the
Watergate investigation, Boeing CEO Harry Stonecipher is in
Washington (DC) this week (and every week), hoping to prove to both
members of Congress and the military that his company isn't run by
"a bunch of crooks."
At the top of Stoneciphers list of people to see: Sen. John
McCain (R-AZ). McCain was the loudest of Boeing's many critics over
the company's procurement of a contract to build 100 767s into
aerial tankers. But until recently, that proved hard to do.
Then, according to the LA Times, Stonecipher ran into McCain at
a reception. Like radar-guided missile, Stonecipher plowed through
the crowd to tug on the senator's sleeve.
"I really need to see you and see how we can get out of the
penalty box," Stonecipher remembers telling McCain. A few days
later, the two sat down for what Stonecipher says was a "frank"
discussion.
"The senator said to me point-blank, 'I do not have a problem
with you personally, Harry. I don't have a problem with Boeing. I
have a big problem with the Air Force,'" Stonecipher recalled. "He
made it very clear he didn't like the process" by which the
government handled the contract.
But Boeing hasn't helped itself in McCain's eyes lately. Right
now, the company is at ground zero in two investigations -- one,
into thousands of Lockheed-Martin documents on a USAF space launch
contract -- documents that turned up at Boeing. The other, of
course, is the ongoing tanker investigation. That probe, which
caused the Defense Department to put the tanker deal on indefinite
hold, could be resolved soon.
When Stonecipher took over for Phil Condit as Boeing's CEO, he
said his top priority was "to deal with this perception that we're
a bunch of crooks."
"My communications
people hate that I said that, but it's served us very well,"
Stonecipher told the Times last week. "If you start talking about
ethics and integrity, it's kind of abstract to people. But if you
say to someone, 'Do you think I'm a crook?' and they say, 'No, I
don't think you are,' it's something that is very clear that you
can latch on to."
Latching on is clearly what Stonecipher has been doing in
Washington on these weekly forays. So far, he's been able to meet
with officials from the White House, Sen. Daniel K. Inouye
(D-Hawaii), McCain and Sen. John Warner (R-VA). He's also met with
Gen. Richard Myers (USAF), chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff.
"The only way to restore the reputation … is to get
yourself to Washington and have a face-to-face with everyone who
has a problem with us," Stonecipher said. "As I've gone to see all
these people, my answer has been that we're going to fix it and
here's what we are doing to fix it."
Stonecipher has a long-running reputation as a trouble-shooting
top dog in the aviation and defense business. More than a decade
ago, he was able to remake Sundstrand Corporation's reputation with
the Pentagon after the company was accused of inflating defense
contracts. Then, in 1994, after being named head honcho at
McDonnell-Douglas, Stonecipher rescued the C-17 transport program
when it ran into unpredicted high costs and production issues. Just
two years after Stonecipher stepped in, the Pentagon tripled its
orders for the C-17.
So when Harry Stonecipher says, "I've done this before and
that's why I'm back," you can bet a lot of people in Chicago and
Seattle breathe just a little bit easier. Damage control is on the
job.