Chamath Palihapitiya, a prominent venture capitalist and former Facebook executive, stirred up backlash online after urging foreign leaders to ditch Airbus planes and buy Boeing instead.
“Every single foreign government leader who subsidizes and/or guarantees loans to buy Airbus planes for their national air carriers should immediately swap those planes for Boeing!” Palihapitiya wrote Tuesday on X. “Make that the first commitment when you talk to Trump.”
His post quickly went viral, where many users questioned the timing and logic of the demand, especially given Boeing’s recent troubles.
One commenter wrote, “Whatever happened to procuring dispassionately (on consideration of merit and use case) instead of for political expedience? Chamath, I am so disappointed.”
Another simply said, “Recently overheard at an airport: ‘If the plane is Boeing, I am not going.'”
Boeing’s Rough Year
Critics were quick to point out that Boeing has faced a string of safety issues and financial disasters in recent years. In 2024 alone, Boeing lost $11.8 billion—nearly $1 billion a month—due to a combination of safety failures, a worker strike, production delays, and mounting losses in its defense business.
The year started with a terrifying incident when a door panel fell off a brand-new 737 Max shortly after takeoff.
Investigators later revealed the part had been installed without bolts. The mishap triggered multiple federal investigations and renewed concerns about Boeing’s manufacturing practices.
Boeing also faced a major strike in the fall, when 33,000 workers walked off the job over pay and retirement disputes.
The seven-week work stoppage shut down key production lines and cost the company and its suppliers over $11.5 billion, according to estimates.
As if that wasn’t enough, Boeing ended the year with a tragedy. On Dec. 29, a Jeju Air 737-800 crashed while trying to land in South Korea, killing 179 people.
Although there’s currently no evidence linking the crash to a design flaw, it capped off what many called Boeing’s worst year since the pandemic.
Followers and Critics React
“The same Boeing that’s been an utter disaster in terms of their safety record lately?” one user asked in response to Palihapitiya.
Another one wrote, “Just not the 737 Max 9s por favor.”
Palihapitiya responded, “They have some great planes that aren’t the Max. The BBJ VVIPs for example kick ass!”
Airbus in America
Others also noted that Airbus has a growing presence in the U.S., employing tens of thousands of Americans and assembling many of its planes in Alabama.
According to Airbus, it works with more than 2,000 U.S. suppliers and supports over 275,000 American jobs!
Critics argued that blindly backing Boeing based on patriotism makes little business sense.
“Technological progression is the most important mechanism to improving quality of life, and ideas like this stifle it,” one commenter wrote. “Let the market do its Darwin thing.”
Boeing Still Struggling
Meanwhile, Boeing’s stock continues to struggle, and the company is preparing more layoffs while it tries to recover from nearly $40 billion in losses since 2019.
Despite all this, Palihapitiya doubled down on his call to support Boeing. But judging by the reaction online, convincing the world to make that switch might not be as easy as firing off a tweet.
IMAGE CREDIT: “Chamath Palihapitiya, TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2013 – Day 1” by TechCrunch via Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Image adjusted for layout