Is Boeing too big to fail? Public has a ‘short-term memory’
- Boeing has faced a string of safety issues going back years
- Some experts now say the company is too big to go under
- Business contributor: "You can't have 50% of the industry go away"
(NewsNation) — Despite years of financial hits, safety lapses and two deadly plane crashes that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019, Boeing continues to be one of the most successful companies in the world.
The enduring success of the company is making some experts wonder whether it is too big to fail, an idea usually reserved for banks.
“You can’t have 50% of the industry go away. Now, on the flip side, of course, Boeing has its hands in a variety of other areas, services, maintaining all those planes on contract, and the big one is defense. So, you know, if Boeing as an entity goes away, catastrophic,” NewsNation business contributor Gary Smith said.
Smith joined “Morning in America” to discuss Boeing’s recent struggles, saying the company needs to take a more “forceful” stance.
“I think the Boeing CEO probably needs to be even more forceful in saying, “Look, we’re an engineering company, we have been, traditionally, the best engineering company, we’re going to fix this problem,”” Smith told NewsNation.
Smith added that unless there is a significant difference in prices, most consumers likely don’t look at carriers before booking a flight.
“Whether good or bad, the public has a very short-term memory,” “Just like you’ve seen past problems with big companies, the public moves on.”