Why Boeing Didn’t Take Immediate Action: Lessons from Netflix’s Downfall

Photo by Sven Piper on Unsplash

The Netflix documentary Downfall: The Case Against Boeing sheds light on the tragic events surrounding the Boeing 737 MAX crashes and the company’s delayed response. Two crashes — Lion Air Flight 610 in October 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in March 2019 — claimed 346 lives. But why didn’t Boeing act sooner to prevent these disasters?

1. A Shift in Priorities: Profit Over Safety
   One of the central themes in Downfall is Boeing’s shift from engineering excellence to prioritizing financial performance. After its merger with McDonnell Douglas in the 1990s, Boeing began focusing heavily on stock prices and market competition. This shift led to critical safety decisions being overlooked or deprioritized, as fixing issues with the 737 MAX’s Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) would have been costly and time-consuming.

Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash

2. Blaming Pilots Instead of Addressing Flaws
Initially, Boeing attributed the crashes to pilot error, particularly pointing to the pilots’ lack of training and non-American backgrounds. This deflection of responsibility delayed the acknowledgment of MCAS issues, allowing Boeing to sidestep…