Designed by clowns supervised by monkeys
Dennis Muilenburg — CEO, The Boeing Company, Boeing Annual Shareholders Meeting
“Safety is our highest priority at Boeing. It is at the core of our culture and how we build airplanes. We will do whatever it takes to ensure the 737 MAX is the safest plane in the skies.”
Boeing Technical Pilot — internal flight crew communications, Internal Instant Message
“This airplane is designed by clowns who in turn are supervised by monkeys.”
The Split:Muilenburg defined safety as Boeing's 'core culture' and highest priority. In private IMs between technical pilots designing the systems, the assessment of the engineering hierarchy was scathing: 'designed by clowns supervised by monkeys.'
The phrase 'safety is our highest priority' is rarely uttered in private by engineers; it is a defensive slogan created by PR departments.