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.

FMI: www.boeing.com