Safety Sirens

 

Boeing Aircraft, once the pride of American "know how" is now the "screw loose" corporation whose fake doors are the target of a million jokes.  How low can you go?

Bill Saporito, a journalist studying the industry, says changes in Boeing's corporate culture led to this disaster.  Pride in engineering and careful production gave way to outsourcing and sidestepping unions.

This is a story with which I am totally familiar.  For several years I worked for the National Safety Council.  My job was to find fresh ways to tell the safety story over and over again. Behind my continuing effort at variety was the core idea:  safety is not an expense.  It provides an enduring competitive advantage.

I guess the Boeing bosses (and there has been a new one almost every year) thought I was writing fiction.  And now they face the facts.