Washington, D.C. – The following is a written statement by Steve Ellis, Vice President for Programs on Phillip M. Condit’s resignation as Chairman and CEO of Boeing Co.:

Last week’s revelations were the straw that broke the “ethical” camel’s back at Boeing. Now they are starting down the road to recovery. The first step in any 12-step recovery process is admitting you have a problem. By accepting Boeing CEO Phil Condit’s hasty resignation, the board is finally admitting that after a year full of scandals, the company has to change the way it does business.

Condit oversaw a career’s worth of scandals in just one year. However, Phil Condit did not personally take other companies’ documents, and he may or may not have known about improper job negotiations with Darleen Druyun while she was an Air Force procurement official, but he created a culture where this type of activity was routine. In order to become a responsible company, Boeing has to have a wholesale change in philosophy and not just cynical PR ploys like the new “ethics” office.

By no means should the departure of the CEO enable Boeing to come out of the doghouse. After duping and ripping off taxpayers, the company will have to work hard to regain trust. The Department of Defense is reviewing the tanker lease deal. That is a first step, but everything the former leadership at Boeing did is surrounded by an ethical cloud of controversy and needs to be reviewed to ensure that it is in the best interest of the taxpayer and the warfighter.

Contact: Keith Ashdown
(202) 546-8500 x110