Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun to step down amid aircraft safety issues crisis

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of 2024, said the company on Monday (Mar 25) as a part of a sweeping management shakeup in the United States-based aircraft manufacturer. The company is facing a safety crisis following a string of incidents, including January’s mid-air panel blowout on a 737 MAX plane operated by Alaska Airlines.

Boeing’s management shakeup

According to the company, chairman of the board Larry Kellner is also resigning and will leave after the company’s annual meeting in May. The board has elected Steve Mollenkopf to succeed Kellner as independent board chair, said Boeing, in a statement.

Mollenkopf, former Qualcomm CEO, will lead the board’s process of selecting Boeing’s next CEO. Additionally, Stan Deal, Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) President and CEO, will also retire

Deal will be replaced by Stephanie Pope who has been placed in charge of the BCA effective immediately, said the company. Meanwhile, Calhoun will continue to lead the company till the end of the year.

The Boeing CEO and the company have faced mounting pressure since the January 5 incident where the Alaska Airlines flight narrowly avoided a catastrophic incident where a panel known as a “door plug” blew out of the 737 MAX plane over the US state of Oregon.

The company has faced intense scrutiny since the US authorities curbed its production while Boeing attempts to fix its safety and quality issues.

In a letter to Boeing employees, on Monday, Calhoun called the Alaska Airlines incident a “watershed moment” for the company and said that we should respond to it with “humility and complete transparency” as well as “inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company.”

“The eyes of the world are on us,” said the Boeing CEO. “We will remain squarely focussed on completing the work we have done together to return our company to stability after the extraordinary challenges of the past five years, with safety and quality at the forefront of everything that we do.”

Calhoun was appointed to the top job in late 2019 following the ouster of Dennis Muilenburg and began leading Boeing in early 2020. Notably, Muilenburg, who was the chief executive, was ousted for his handling of the aftermath of two deadly 737 Max crashes.

Boeing incidents and safety concerns

Since the incident in January, Calhoun has promised investors, regulators, and the people that Boeing would get its myriad quality struggles under control.

The two crashes in 2018 and 2019 involved Boeing 737 Max planes which killed nearly 350 people prompting the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to curb the company’s production to a rate of 38 jets per month, but it struggled to even reach that number, according to CFO Brian West.

(With inputs from agencies)