Airbus’ Purported Reforms Don’t Make It Deserving of Taxpayer Dollars

Should governments continue to do business with companies that consistently act illegally and unethically?

That's the question U.S. and European taxpayers should be asking after a $16 million fine was issued against Airbus. The world's largest airplane manufacturer blew it off in a press release, saying the illegal activities which led to the fine were part of the company's less-ethically stringent past.

But the fine didn't happen in a vacuum.

Airbus received a record $3.9 billion fraud fine in 2020 for engaging in years of illegal bribes in a variety of nations. For many years, bribery was unofficial company policy at Airbus, and the penalty amounted to the “largest global foreign bribery resolution to date.”

The $16 million fine was directly related to the previous fine and to the company's highly unethical business activities around the world – from the U.S. and Britain to Kazakhstan. Business activities that violated the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), its implementing regulations and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).

Airbus has consistently pointed out that the ethics-related fines happened before the company revamped its executive team and instituted company-wide ethics and oversight changes from 2016 onwards. The $16 million fine likewise relates to business activities the company engaged in before 2012.

It may appear that Airbus's leadership and policies have, indeed, changed since 2016. Guillaume Faury was appointed Airbus CEO in 2019. But not all are convinced Airbus has changed its ways. Qatar Airways is currently suing Airbus for allegedly making sub-quality planes.

The lawsuit's merits will be addressed in court in 2023, but in the meantime, Airbus is reportedly concerned about the lawsuit's impact on its bottom line. And a decision favorable to Qatar Airways may indicate that the shadow of Airbus' past still darkens its present.

Airbus is also facing pressure for its lobbying against titanium sanctions on Russia after the Ukraine invasion. The company recently announced that it is divesting from Russia's titanium source – but it is hardly a ringing endorsement of its ethics that the divestment took place after months of criticism.

Like the oversight and ethics reforms Airbus implemented after being busted for bribes, Airbus appears to be a leader in manufacturing…and a laggard on everything else. The company seems to make major cultural and ethical changes, such as its U-turn on titanium sanctions, once its failings are publicly pointed out.

Governments shouldn't sit by and let companies get away with their carefree attitude toward important matters of ethics, geopolitics and laws. The U.S. and U.K. governments, for example, have strict banking regulations to prevent bribery and corruption – forcing banks to have a greater duty of care to not serve companies with a history of bribery. These laws came about to stop the open secret that international companies would do business with corrupt government officials in foreign nations on terms dictated by those government officials. Poor behavior was rationalized away on the basis that economic growth and profits served everyone.

But the fines made clear that banking bribery would no longer be tolerated. Likewise, nations that do business with Airbus should make it clear that press releases and new faces at the executive table aren't enough. Airbus' desperate attempts to cling onto Russian titanium imports – when most other multinationals swiftly boycotted Russia – don't bestow confidence. Airbus's first instincts still don't seem to be to do the right thing first and foremost, making at least one thing clear: Airbus has more work to do to convince the world that its bad habits are behind it.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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