Can Boeing rebuild its reputation after two devastating crashes?

The plane manufacturer was far too slow to deliver a concrete statement on the latest disaster that left 157 dead in Ethiopia, says​ Chris Blackhurst

Recovery workers inspect an engine after it was recovered from the scene near Addis Ababa this week (Getty)

There can be no more terrible position to be in as a senior business executive. Your new aircraft has just crashed, for the second time in five months, killing all 157 people on board. As with the first accident, that saw 189 perish, the cause is not immediately apparent. So what do you do? If ever there was a case in corporate life where less really is more this is it.

This was the situation confronting Boeing chair, Dennis Muilenburg, following the downing of its 737 Max-8 model on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi last Sunday. Operators around the world said they were grounding the airplane, only recently unveiled by a proud Boeing.

On Wednesday, Muilenburg issued a statement: “We are supporting this proactive step out of an abundance of caution. Safety is a core value at Boeing for as long as we have been building airplanes; and it always will be. There is no greater priority for our company and our industry. We are doing everything we can to understand the cause of the accidents in partnership with the investigators, deploy safety enhancements and help ensure this does not happen again.”