2. Company Background

Boeing is one of the world’s biggest manufacturers in the area of aerospace and defense. In 2024, Boeing generated approximately $66.5 billion in total revenue, underscoring its scale and systemic importance in global aviation markets. Incorporated in 1916 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, the company works on the development and production of commercial airplanes, combat aircraft, rotorcraft, satellites, missiles, and space systems. The operations are carried out through its key businesses that include Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA), Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS), and Boeing Global Services. The firm is one of the most significant U.S. exporters.



“On paper,” Boeing’s corporate identity is clear. In Boeing’s values and ethics principles, the company lists “Safety, quality, integrity, and transparency” as the most important values and writes that safety is “the basis” of all that it does and that it adheres to “the highest standards” in terms of its design, manufacture, and product service. These are presented less as marketing tropes and more as preconditions to trust in the product and brand.




In effect, what has transpired in the past decade illustrates the concerns behind these questions. The most popular family of airplanes produced by Boeing, the 737 Max series, has found itself in numerous crises. The 737 Max series has found itself in various crises:

  • In 2018 and 2019, two crashes involving 737 MAX 8 aircraft resulted in the loss of 346 lives due to design flaws in the MCAS function (Lion Air flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines flight 302). The entire 737 MAX fleet had to be grounded due to concerns about the impact of competitiveness and costs on design and communication choices.
  • An in-flight door plug blowout occurred on the 737 MAX 9 operated by Alaska Airlines on flight 1282 on 5 January 2024. The conclusions reached by NTSB and FAA investigations include the absence of bolts and failure within the processes outlined by Boeing. The FAA halted production to ensure that there are no deficiencies in the manufacturing process.

These incidents are significant to the ethics case because of what Boeing produces. Airplanes are high-risk, low-tolerance items. One mistake can result in the death of hundreds of people simultaneously. The implications of this understanding are that the discrepancy between Boeing’s advertised values (Safety First, strict ethics, emphasis on transparency) and those uncovered during investigations is more than just concerns over brand. They are transformed instead into an ethical issue that concerns company culture.

What makes the current crisis so acute is Boeing’s background, its level of influence, and claims about its mission: this is no fly-by-night contractor operating with reckless disregard. Rather, it is an industry-leading company that insists that regulators and passengers trust its expertise, but has needed outside intervention to solve recurrent problems with safety and quality.




SOURCES

https://www.boeing.com/737-9-updates

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing

https://www.boeing.com/sustainability/our-principles

https://explore.britannica.com/explore/space/boeing/

https://www.boeing.com/sustainability/ethics-and-compliance

https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Pages/DCA24MA063.aspx

https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/boeing-737-max-crashes

https://www.boeing.com/content/dam/boeing/boeingdotcom/company/annual-report/2024/2024-annual-report.pdf

Comments

  1. Noah PawlowskiNovember 11, 2025 at 7:28 AM

    I think that the financial overview image was smart to add to backup your post. I think you did a good job summing up Boeing's company and background while connecting it to the ethical concerns revolving them. Once again I like how you compared the company's stated values to their actions and failures.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sam BuschNovember 11, 2025 at 1:14 PM

    I like the financial overview image, i think it really brings perspective to the affect Boeing has on the market. I also think it was good how you got to the point of their history and operations but went in depth again into more of the ethical side.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ReddyNovember 12, 2025 at 11:28 AM

    I learnt lots information that I was not aware of of Boeing.

    ReplyDelete

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