Boeing CEO to step down in broad management shake-up as 737 Max crisis weighs on aerospace giant

Boeing
CEO

Dave
Calhoun
will
step
down
at
the
end
of
2024
in
part
of
a
broad
management
shake-up
for
the
embattled
aerospace
giant.

Larry
Kellner,
chairman
of
the
board,
will
not
stand
for
reelection
at
Boeing’s
annual
meeting
in
May,
Boeing
said
Monday.
He
will
be
succeeded
as
chair
by
Steve
Mollenkopf,
who
has
been
a
Boeing
director
since
2020
and
is
a
former
CEO
of
Qualcomm.
Mollenkopf
will
lead
the
board
in
picking
a
new
CEO,
Boeing
said.

And
Stan
Deal,
president
and
chief
executive
of
Boeing’s
commercial
airplanes
unit,
is
leaving
the
company
effective
immediately.
Moving
into
his
job
is
Stephanie
Pope,
who
recently
became
Boeing’s
chief
operating
officer
after
previously
running
Boeing
Global
Services.

The
departures
come
as
airlines
and
regulators
have
been
increasing
calls
for
major
changes
at
the
company
after
a
host
of
quality
and
manufacturing
flaws
on
Boeing
planes.
Scrutiny
intensified
after
a

Jan.
5
accident,
when
a
door
plug
blew
out
of
a
nearly
new
Boeing
737
Max
9
minutes
into
an


Alaska
Airlines
flight.

“As
you
all
know,
the
Alaska
Airlines
Flight
1282
accident
was
a
watershed
moment
for
Boeing,”
Calhoun
wrote
to
employees
on
Monday. “We
must
continue
to
respond
to
this
accident
with
humility
and
complete
transparency.
We
also
must
inculcate
a
total
commitment
to
safety
and
quality
at
every
level
of
our
company.

“The
eyes
of
the
world
are
on
us,
and
I
know
we
will
come
through
this
moment
a
better
company,
building
on
all
the
learnings
we
accumulated
as
we
worked
together
to
rebuild
Boeing
over
the
last
number
of
years,”
he
wrote.

Calhoun
told
CNBC
in
an
interview
Monday
that
the
decision
to
resign
was “100%”
his
own.

“We
have
another
mountain
to
climb,”
Calhoun
said. “Let’s
not
avoid
the
call
for
action.
Let’s
not
avoid
the
changes
that
we
have
to
make
in
our
factory.
Let’s
not
avoid
the
need
to
slow
down
a
bit
and
let
the
supply
chain
catch
up.”

Calhoun,
a
more
than
decade-long
board
member
at
Boeing,
took
the
top
job
there
in
January
2020
after
the
company

ousted
its
previous
chief
executive,
Dennis
Muilenburg,
for
his
handling
of
the
aftermath
of
two
deadly
737
Max
crashes.

For
months
Calhoun
has
promised
investors,
airline
customers
and
the
general
public
that
Boeing
will
get
its
myriad
quality
struggles
under
control.
The
Federal
Aviation
Administration
has
stepped
up
oversight
of
Boeing,
and
agency
Administrator
Mike
Whitaker
after
the
Alaska
Airlines
accident
said
Boeing
will
be

barred
from
increasing
737
production
until
the
FAA
is
satisfied
with
the
company’s
quality
control.

Boeing’s
production
problems
have
delayed
deliveries
of
new
planes
to
customers
and
hampered
growth
plans.
CEOs
of
some
of
the
company’s
largest
customers,
including


United
Airlines,


Southwest
Airlines
and


American
Airlines
have
publicly
complained
about
the
delays.

Ryanair,
Boeing’s
largest
airline
customer
in
Europe,
said
in
a
statement
Monday
it
welcomes
the
management
changes.

“Stan
Deal
has
done
a
great
sales
job
for
Boeing
for
many
years,
but
he’s
not
the
person
to
turn
around
the
operation
in
Seattle,
and
that’s
where
most
of
the
problems
have
been
in
recent
years,”
Ryanair
CEO
Michael
O’Leary
said
in
a
video
posted
to
social
media
platform
X.

United’s
CEO,
Scott
Kirby,
earlier
this
month
said
he
urged
Boeing
to
stop
making
yet-to-be-certified
Max
10
planes
for
the
company
because
it
wasn’t
clear
when
the
FAA
would
clear
those
aircraft
to
fly.

Last
week,
airline
CEOs
started
scheduling
meetings
with
Boeing
directors
to
voice
their
displeasure
at
the
lack
of
manufacturing
quality
controls
and
lower-than-expected
production
of
737
Max
planes.
The
meetings
were
to
include
Kellner
and
one
or
more
other
board
members.

Also
last
week,
Boeing
Chief
Financial
Officer
Brian
West
said
at
an
industry
conference
that
Boeing
would

burn
more
cash
than
expected
because
of
limited
737
Max
production.

Boeing’s
stock
added
1.4%
on
Monday
after
the
announcements.
Its
shares
are
down
more
than
26%
so
far
this
year.