Following the release of the company’s year-end 2023 results, Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun sent the following message to every employee:

As we present our results for the fourth quarter and the entire year 2023, my attention is still on the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 disaster and the steps Boeing is taking to improve quality.

I’ve spoken with many of you over the past few weeks, and I’ve also had frank and direct discussions with our customers, lawmakers, and regulators. We still have a lot to prove to win over our stakeholders, and they are disappointed. There’s no phrase or message to convey that. It will require openness and evidence of action, which begins with each of us, as well as a dedication to speaking up and listening to one another.

Although we’ve made great progress in the last few years to improve our safety and quality procedures, this incident shows us that there is still much work to be done. In order to achieve this, we have declared that we will be taking swift and thorough steps to improve quality throughout our supply chain and all of our programmes pertaining to commercial aircraft. Furthermore, our regulator has disclosed important new initiatives to strengthen their oversight, which we will openly and completely endorse.

We will improve as a result of this increased scrutiny, which comes from others as well as from ourselves and our regulator. I ask all colleagues to speak up as we advance together, keeping safety and quality as our top priorities and paying close attention to every little detail.

Nobody knows better than our workers on the factory floor what has to be done to improve. We should all ask for their opinions, be aware of how to support them, and constantly support any team member who brings up concerns that need to be resolved. We’ll take our time, move slowly, and not rush the system to get it done correctly.

This is not the time to discuss or update our financial and operational goals, even though we frequently do so at this time of year. We will just concentrate on the next aircraft, supporting our customers to the best of our ability, adhering to our regulator’s guidance, and ensuring the highest standards of quality and safety in everything we do. In the end, that’s what will drive our performance.