Boeing influence nets a bipartisan blackout

WASHINGTON – As Boeing, its airline customers and federal safety regulators struggled over the past two months to solve problems with the new 787 Dreamliner’s fire-plagued batteries, one player has been strangely silent: Congress.

Despite the plane’s grounding and the safety issues raised by its cutting-edge technology, there have been no congressional hearings or news conferences focusing on the problems, and little commentary from lawmakers who normally pounce at the first sign of trouble.

The unusual bipartisan silence reflects Boeing’s political clout, wielded by legions of lobbyists, fueled by hefty political campaign contributions and by the company’s importance as a huge employer and the nation’s single largest exporter. Few companies are as well positioned as Boeing to fend off a potentially damaging public investigation.

The 787’s woes came up only briefly at the tail end of a recent two-hour hearing of the House aviation subcommittee. After all but a handful of members of the subcommittee had left, Federal Aviation Administrator Michael Huerta spent seven minutes answering questions about the batteries.

This week, the Senate Commerce Committee holds a hearing on the FAA and its budget, during which the members are expected to discuss aviation safety. The 787’s problems aren’t specifically on the agenda, but the committee’s staff says the issue is expected to be raised. No one from Boeing is scheduled to testify.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., chairman of the commerce committee, said Boeing officials have implored him not to hold a hearing on the 787 batteries. “Their lobbyists have been saying that like crazy for weeks and weeks and weeks,” he said.

“Because this is an issue of huge significance in both economic and safety terms, you would think it would be a natural for Congress,” said Norman Ornstein, an expert on Congress at the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank.

It’s easy to imagine House Republicans “jumping at this and bashing the administration and the FAA,” he said, “but that would mean taking on a major part of the business community that has been very supportive of people chairing these committees and subcommittees.”

The problems with the 787’s lithium ion batteries have raised alarms about the safety of Boeing’s innovative new plane. In January, a battery in a 787 parked at an airport gate in Boston erupted in flames and dense clouds of smoke, and a smoking battery aboard another 787 forced an emergency landing in Japan. But the company’s prominent profile seems to have bought it a zone of protection from criticism on Capitol Hill.

The aircraft maker has spent more than $83 million on lobbying over the past five years, according to disclosure reports. It fielded 115 lobbyists last year, both on its own payroll and at some of the best-connected lobbying and law firms in Washington. About three-quarters of those lobbyists had previously worked for Congress, the White House or federal agencies, according to the political money and influence tracking website OpenSecrets.org.

Boeing’s lobbying team has been working hard in the background to keep lawmakers and their staffs in the loop about the 787’s problems. Lobbyists, executives and engineers have provided frequent briefings in person or by phone on the company’s effort to fix the 787’s batteries and get the planes back in the air.