Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador and former governor of South Carolina, has resigned from the board of Boeing, citing the giant aerospace company's efforts to obtain federal assistance because of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, "Ambassador Haley informed the Company that, as a matter of philosophical principle, she does not believe that the Company should seek support from the Federal Government, and therefore decided to resign from the Board."
In her letter of resignation, Haley wrote, "As we encounter the Covid-19 crisis, Boeing, along with many other companies, face another major set of challenges. I want to be part of helping the company as it pushes through it. However, the board and executive team are going in a direction I cannot support.
"While I know cash is tight, that is equally true for numerous other industries and for millions of small businesses. 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. I have long held strong convictions that this is not the role of government."
Widely viewed as a future potential GOP presidential candidate, Haley's decision could be a way to insulate herself from future charges that she supported a taxpayer-funded bailout of a private company.
Boeing is a major employer in South Carolina, with a plant that manufactures the company's 787 jetliners.
It is seeking assistance to the tune of $60 billion as part of a package of relief for the aerospace industry, which has been hard hit by a sharp drop in travel due to the coronavirus crisis. Boeing has also been struggling as a result of fatal crashes involving two of its 737 Max passenger jets.
President Trump said this week that he supports federal assistance for the company.
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