It seems like the problem with Boeing is that they acquired a failing company (McDonnell-Douglas), but then kept all the executives and let them run Boeing, even though they'd just ruined the last company.
Maybe they preferred that over letting some pleb engineer into the executive aristocracy.
Oh, I don't blame him at all. A commercial airliner is a decade long project to undertake. However its clear he was not the leader to lead a company through a crisis.
Maybe they preferred that over letting some pleb engineer into the executive aristocracy.