Benzinga - by Natan Ponieman, Benzinga Editor.
Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) shares are trading higher on Thursday, inline with a broader market upswing in response to a Wednesday decision by the Fed to keep interest rates steady for the upcoming period.
The company appeared unaffected by the latest chapter in its saga of bad publicity: the sudden death of yet another whistleblower, who had sounded the alarm on irregularities in the manufacturing of Boeing's 737 Max airplane line.
Boeing has been at the center of a major controversy, after a Boeing 737 Max 9 flown by Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) lost an emergency door in the middle of a flight in January.
Whistleblower Joshua Dean died on Tuesday morning from an unexpected infection, The Seattle Times reported. He worked as quality auditor for Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc (NYSE:SPR), one of Boeing’s main partners in the manufacturing of 737 aircraft.
Dean is the second Boeing whistleblower to die unexpectedly after John Barnett, a former Boeing employee who raised safety concerns after being at the company for over 32 years, was found dead in March in a hotel room from self-inflicted wounds.
Barnett had given a deposition against Boeing and was scheduled to return to court when he was found dead.
Dean, who was forty-five at the time of his death, was reportedly in good health and led a healthy lifestyle. He became seriously ill in mid-April and was taken to a hospital, where his health quickly deteriorated.
He was a mechanical engineer and worked as a quality auditor for Spirit in the production line of Boeing's 737 planes. He was fired from Spirit in April 2023 after testifying in a Spirit shareholder lawsuit and filing a complaint with the FAA for "serious and gross misconduct by senior quality management of the 737 production line."
"Our thoughts are with Josh Dean's family. This sudden loss is stunning news here and for his loved ones," a Spirit spokesperson told The Seattle Times.
Shareholders sued the company in December alleging that "Spirit management withheld information on the quality flaws and harmed stockholders."
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Boeing Safety Storm: At least 32 whistleblowers have come up to denounce irregularities at Boeing's commercial airplane production line. The company is currently under serious scrutiny from the federal government after the Alaska Airlines incident made apparent that safety standards are not being met at the company's manufacturing facilities.
Last week, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, a union representing Boeing and Spirit employees, said Boeing management has retaliated against engineers who raised safety concerns in the production line, Forbes reported.
A Senate subcommittee is conducting an investigation into Boeing's safety procedures and has summoned Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun after several whistleblowers denounced poor quality practices and efforts to conceal them from management.
The Department of Justice has also launched a criminal investigation into Boeing for the Alaska Airlines incident, and the company is facing lawsuits from several passengers who were on board.
The events could mean trouble for Boeing, which is already operating under terms of a deal reached with the DOJ in 2021. The company reached the deal after facing several charges of fraud stemming from a series of airplane crashes during 2018 and 2019. The deal also included a $2.5 billion penalty for the company.
If the DOJ finds out that Boeing broke the terms of the deal, it could further penalize the company.
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