Boeing has confidence of policymakers 
2019-08-05
The grounding of the 737 MAX for more than four months after two deadly accidents has tarnished Boeing’s reputation, but it still has the confidence of US policymakers.
This is despite the fact that one of the MAX flight systems, the MCAS, has been cited in both accidents.
Is this an indication that the American aerospace giant is too big to fail? US President Donald Trump, whose mantra is “America first,” certainly criticized Boeing early in his administration over the presidential plane, Air Force One, but he has been largely silent about the recent woes.
The wave of negative press about the flaws that caused the deaths of 346 people did not prompt legislators to summon Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg before Congress to inflict on him the kind of humiliation Wall Street bankers were subject to following the global financial crisis. 
“Boeing is one of the engines of the US economy. It’s way too big and too important for the United States,” said Michel Merluzeau, an expert at Air Insight Research.
If American politicians were to attack the manufacturer, they would be shooting themselves in the foot, Merluzeau said, because “there are many jobs involved, a very, very numerous supply chain and it cannot be replaced with Facebook or Google that don’t produce anything tangible.” 
Founded 103 years ago, Boeing employs more than 150,000 people around the world, the vast majority in the US. In addition to direct jobs, its subcontractors — like General Electric, United Technologies and Spirit Aerosystems — are large US industrial employers. 
The Boeing plants resemble a political map with facilities in Republican strongholds like Alabama, South Carolina and Texas, and Democratic areas like California and Washington, as well as states that helped Trump win the election: Pennsylvania and Arizona. 
US civilian aircraft exports fell 12 percent to US$20.4 billion in May, due to the MAX crisis, which affected the GDP, according to government data.
