It is good to know there are still a few people in the political world that have principles… and one of them is Nikki Haley.
In the midst of a possible bailout from the government, Haley has decided to resign her position as a board member of Boeing.
Nikki Haley resigns from Boeing board because she opposes a federal bailout.
“I cannot support a move to lean on the federal government for a stimulus or bailout that prioritizes our company over others and relies on taxpayers to guarantee our financial position.” pic.twitter.com/ngnGQWG79j
— Steve Kopack (@SteveKopack) March 19, 2020
Joining Boeing
Haley had previously served as the governor of South Carolina from January 2011 until January 2017.
At that time, she then joined the Trump administration as the United States Ambassador the United Nations.
Haley resigned her position as ambassador in December 2018, the joined Boeing in May 2019.
At the time Haley joined the company, Boeing was in the midst of dealing with two recent crashes of its 737 Max aircraft.
The company was hoping that Haley’s previous leadership as both a governor and ambassador would help guide them through the crisis that had been created by these crashes.
Getting That Cash
When the government announced it was creating a $1 trillion stimulus package to rescue businesses that have been hurt the forced shutdown, Boeing could not get its hand out quick enough.
The problem for Boeing, though, was that its current financial crisis was brought on by its failures, not the coronavirus.
There simply is no way Boeing should receive a single penny of this stimulus package
Boeing has been living high on the hog for many years, benefiting from lucrative government contracts.
Rather than create a rainy-day fund, Boeing, like many of these large companies, continued to do stock buybacks to drive prices and improve dividends for stockholders.
Over the last decade, MarketWatch stated that Boeing has spent $43.44 billion in buybacks, almost 75 percent of its free cash flow.
Now that the company has hit a challenge, it does not have the cash flow to sustain itself.
We have seen the same thing with virtually every major airline that is now asking for help.
Between Southwest, Alaska Air, Delta, United Airlines, American Airlines, and JetBlue, they have spent 96 percent of free cash flow, more than $47 billion, on stock buybacks.
These companies have been hurt by this crisis, but had they not used up their free cash for these buybacks, they would all more than likely be able to withstand this crisis.
Instead, they are looking for a government handout.
Haley did the honorable thing here, which is something we don’t see very often in Washington these days.
Nikki is right to walk away from a company which has absolutely no morals and believes it is “entitled” to a bail out from the American People, that money comes from we the people, not the U.S. Government.
It also makes her available to run with DJT later this year for Vice President. I thought Nikki did a fantastic job as UN Ambassador, but would not want to see Mike Pence removed from the ticket. Given her UN experience , she would be an excellent candidate for Secretary of State in the President’s second term. Now that Joe Biden has promised to select a woman for his running mate, there will be pressure to have a woman on the Republican ticket. That can wait until 2024. It is imperative now to re-elect the Trump-Pence duo.