Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenberg personally apologized in his first interview since two 737 MAX 8 planes crashed, killing more than 300 people and causing a worldwide grounding of the aircraft.
A Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed in the Java Sea near Indonesia in October, killing all 189 people on board.
In March, a Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX 8 crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa – killing all 157 people on board.
The interview with new CBS Evening News Anchor Norah O’Donnell aired only on KIRO 7 on Wednesday.
“We are sorry for the impact to the families and the loved ones that are behind, and that will never change, that will always be with us. I can tell you it affects me directly as a leader of this company, it’s very difficult,” Muilenberg said.
Muilenberg said he expects the plane to start carrying passengers again by the end of the year.
“Of my 34 years at Boeing, this has had the biggest impact on me of anything that happened,” Muilenberg told O’Donnell.
The CEO also explained that despite the crashes, he never considered resigning.
“It’s important I continue to lead the company and the fact that lives depend on the work we do – whether it’s people flying on our commercial airplanes or military men and women around the world who use our defense products, that is a worthy mission.
Both crashes have been linked to the anti-stall system that pushed down the nose of the plane. Boeing has admitted there was a mistake in the warning light that is supposed to let pilots know of a problem.
“The implementation of that software, we did not do it correctly. Our engineers discovered that. We are fixing it now and our communication on that was not what it should have been,” Muilenberg said.
O’Donnell asked if Boeing has a credibility and transparency problem. Muilenberg replied, “As I said we clearly fell short and the implementation of the angle of attack alert was a mistake. We did not implement it properly. We're confident in the fundamental safety of the airplane.”
When asked if he would put his family on a 737 MAX, Muilenberg said, “Without any hesitation, absolutely.”
Click here to watch the interview.
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