Aerospace giant Boeing has disbanded its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) department amid ongoing safety concerns.
In the past few years, Boeing has faced a series of safety scandals, including the tragic crashes of two Boeing 737 Max planes in 2018 and 2019. These incidents, which claimed the lives of 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia, revealed critical issues in its engineering and oversight processes.
In addition to these crashes, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) flagged a serious flaw in 292 different Boeing 777 aircraft earlier this year. The FAA warned Boeing that if safety protocols are not rigorously enforced, potential in-flight engine malfunctions could pose further aviation disasters.
Moreover, United States District Judge Reed O'Connor of the Northern District of Texas also questioned Boeing's hiring of an independent DEI monitor. The independent monitor was supposed to oversee Boeing's compliance with legal and regulatory requirements in its settlement among the families of victims of Boeing 737 MAX crashes. Additionally, the monitor would report to the Department of Justice regarding the progress and adherence of Boeing to ethical standards. (Related: Boeing to be criminally INDICTED for fraud.)
However, Boeing went beyond ethics and compliance by including DEI in its hiring process.
In line with all this controversy, Boeing's new Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg decided to disband its DEI department. Boeing acknowledged that staff from its now-defunct DEI office would continue to support the company and its mission from within a newly consolidated HR team.
"Boeing remains committed to recruiting and retaining top talent and creating an inclusive work environment where every teammate around the world can perform at their best while supporting the company's mission," the company said in a statement.
Boeing joins other corporations that scale back from their DEI initiatives
Boeing has joined other corporations that have scaled back DEI initiatives.
In June, American agriculture and home improvement retailer Tractor Supply Co. announced that it would be eliminating DEI roles and its goals would no longer take DEI into consideration following conservative backlash on social media warning that the company's DEI initiatives were overly emphasizing racial and identity-related distinctions in a manner that strayed from the company's primary mission of serving customers.
In addition, Tractor Supply Co. announced that it was halting supplying data to the LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign and will instead focus on the needs of its mostly rural American customer base, including education and veterans causes, and will no longer sponsor "nonbusiness activities like Pride festivals and voting campaigns."
"We have heard from customers that we have disappointed them," the company posted on their official account on X in June. "We have taken this feedback to heart."
Similarly, agricultural equipment manufacturer John Deere stated that it would end its support for "social and cultural awareness events," while opting out of participating in the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index. This decision was also echoed by Harley-Davidson. Additionally, Toyota and Ford also recently confirmed adjustments to their DEI programs.
Watch this clip of former Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun admitting to retaliating against whistleblowers who exposed the company's shortcomings.
This video is from the TrendingNews channel on Brighteon.com.
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