For a long time, Dennis Muilenburg embodied the American dream within the aeronautical giant Boeing. Joined the company as an intern in 1985, at the age of 21, after an aerodynamic engineer diploma obtained in his native state of Iowa, this farmer's son, who was landed abruptly on Monday, December 23, had patiently climbed the markets, after having initially worked on many projects related to the defense division of the mastodon.
His training and career had allowed him to climb the hierarchy until becoming the undisputed number one in 2016. Anxious to break with an image of techno without roughness, Dennis Muilenburg had joined in a personal capacity a spiritual structure, the Biblical Business Training. A guarantee, according to him, that managerial responsibilities are accompanied by " greater integrity as we become more like Christ ".
The management of the two air disasters linked to the 737 MAX, a program launched in record time to respond to a new aircraft of the European Airbus, in parallel with its ascent to the highest functions within the juggernaut, however required other qualities than those who had served it until then.
His attitude amplified the crisis
For too long invisible and silent, Dennis Muilenburg then struggled to express the necessary empathy towards the victims of the two accidents, as well as to take the measure of the blast. The director under pressure made lie the president of Boeing who assured in 2017, a year before the first crash, that a boss had to " react quickly ". " Events can change everything, so you have to do the same ", He added.
On the contrary, the engineer seemed to be engulfed in the certainties of world number one, head of gondolas of the miraculous contracts that the American president, Donald Trump, likes to announce, displaying a blind confidence in the technology of the 737 MAX. Far from putting an end to the crisis, this attitude on the contrary amplified it, playing as a revealer of the errors of the aeronautical giant.
By emphasizing his indifference to the first internal whistleblowers, worried about the production rates of the device. Or even inbred links with the American civil aviation authority, the Federal Aviation Administration, who are not very attentive to the giant, both blinded by a long-term glowing record in aviation safety.
