Boeing announced on Monday that it would be making significant leadership changes, including the departure of CEO Dave Calhoun at the end of the year. This move comes as a response to the fallout from an incident involving a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane in early January. Following this incident, the Federal Aviation Administration grounded 737 Max 9 planes and imposed restrictions on Boeing’s planned production increase of Max planes. The Justice Department has also reached out to passengers of the Alaska Airlines flight, informing them that they may be a “possible victim of a crime.”
Stan Deal, the head of the division that makes planes for airlines, will retire immediately, and Stephanie Pope, Boeing’s chief operating officer, will replace him. Larry Kellner will not stand for re-election as chairman, and Steve Mollenkopf, former chief executive of Qualcomm, will take on the role of chairman and lead the process of choosing Boeing’s next CEO. Discussions about leadership changes have been ongoing for some time, and Ms. Pope has seen rapid advancement in her roles at Boeing over the past few years.
Mr. Calhoun said the January incident was a “watershed moment for Boeing,” and he believes the company will come through it as a better company. He mentioned that he would be part of the search for his successor and that all leadership changes were deliberate. The announcement of these changes comes ahead of Boeing’s annual meeting, where board members are elected. Since taking over as CEO in 2020, Mr. Calhoun has affirmed Boeing’s commitment to quality and safety, but pressure has continued to rise on him and the company.
After the january incident, some travelers have become wary of Boeing’s 737 Max series of planes, and airlines like Southwest, Delta, and United have issued statements expressing their commitment to working with Boeing’s new leadership to ensure the highest quality and safety standards for their planes. One union leader stated that more far-reaching changes are needed within Boeing’s executive suite to regain credibility. Boeing’s stock was up about 1 percent after the announcement of the leadership changes.
The leadership shake-up at Boeing raises urgent questions about succession planning and the future of the company. Ms. Pope will have a challenging task ahead as she works to fix issues within the commercial planes division. Analysts suggest that Boeing may consider bringing in an executive from outside the company, but finding someone with the necessary experience to lead such a large engineering and manufacturing company will be difficult. Despite the challenges Boeing currently faces, Mr. Calhoun expressed confidence that the company will emerge stronger from this crisis.
