Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun speaks with reporters as he leaves a gathering in the office of Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) on Capitol Hill, January 24, 2024, in Washington.
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of 2024 as part of a wide-ranging management shakeup at the crisis-ridden aerospace giant.
CEO Larry Kellner can also be resigning and will leave the board at Boeing’s annual meeting in May. He was replaced as chairman by Steve Mollenkopf, who has been Boeing’s CEO since 2020.
Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, is leaving the company, effective immediately. His position will be filled by Stephanie Pope, who recently became Boeing’s chief operating officer after previously leading Boeing Global Services.
The departures come as airlines and regulators increasingly call for major changes at the company following a string of quality and manufacturing defects in Boeing planes. The investigation intensified following the Jan. 5 accident during which a door plug flew off a virtually recent Boeing 737 Max 9, minutes after Alaska Airlines flight.
“As you all know, the accident of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was a watershed moment for Boeing,” Calhoun wrote to employees on Monday. “We must continue to respond to this incident with humility and complete transparency. We must also instill 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 get through this moment as a better company, building on all the lessons we have gained as we have worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last few years,” he wrote.
Last week, airline executives began scheduling meetings with Boeing executives to precise their dissatisfaction with the lack of production quality control and lower-than-expected production of the 737 Max planes. The meetings were allegedly attended by Kellner and a number of other board members.
For months, Calhoun has been promising investors, airline customers and the general public that Boeing can get a handle on its myriad quality problems.
Calhoun was appointed to the top job in late 2019 and took the reins at Boeing in early 2020, after the company ousted previous CEO Dennis Muilenburg over his handling of the aftermath of two deadly 737 Max crashes.
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