Local Aerospace Suppliers Boycotted by Boeing

Boeing has walked away from a Washington state trade group that represents aerospace businesses, and is skipping the group’s annual suppliers conference, which is set to take place next month in Lynnwood. removal of financial sponsorship and participation in the conference, according to people familiar with the situation, is tied to accusations in a tumultuous lawsuit concluded in June. The lawsuit, filed by a former employee of the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance, claimed that the trade group’s leadership had a culture of discrimination against women.

PNAA interim CEO Nikki Malcom rejected any unfavourable attitudes toward women inside the group in an interview on Friday, adding that the organisation has hosted an annual “Women in Aerospace” conference for the past nine years to assist women in the industry. Malcom, on the other hand, said she couldn’t talk about the lawsuit and denied to comment on the Boeing breach., likewise, has refused to explain why it has stopped supporting PNAA.

Boeing says it’s “helping a number of other aerospace companies in the Pacific Northwest, and we remain completely committed to this region’s aerospace community,” according to the statement. For the past two decades, PNAA has been encouraging the expansion of the region’s aerospace industry by representing approximately 250 companies. Its annual conference, which has grown in popularity over the years, attracts hundreds of industry participants from all over the world, representing firms looking to conduct business in the Pacific Northwest’s aerospace cluster, which is led by Boeing.

Richard Aboulafia, a longtime aviation expert who now works for the consultancy firm Aerodynamic Advisory, has been a keynote speaker at the annual conference for many years. In previous years, Boeing, Airbus, and other major aircraft companies all sent a top executive or two to give speeches at the yearly conference.