Whether it be a wheel from the landing gear falling off a Boeing 757-200, or a door plug being ejected from an Alaska Airlines plane during flight, embarrassment is not new to Boeing.
Boeing employees are reportedly feeling “humiliated” after NASA decided to return Starliner crew aboard rival SpaceX’s Dragon capsule in February 2025. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunni Williams had been waiting on a decision about how and when they would return home since their arrival at the International Space Station nearly three months ago.
This past Saturday, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced the difficult decision to return Williams and WIlmore back to Earth on a SpaceX space capsule, instead of the Starliner capsule they arrived on. The decision includes Starliner making its return to Earth unmanned sometime next month.During the press conference, Nelson made it clear that Boeing had been working “very hard” to provide NASA with the necessary data to make the decision. Following the announcement, a Boeing employee, speaking on the condition of anonymity, expressed embarrassment and humiliation over the decision.»NASA has decided that Butch and Suni will return with Crew-9 next February.
