Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun to step down in management shakeup amid safety crisis

Dave Calhoun, a long-time Boeing director and veteran of General Electric Co. and Blackstone Group LP, is ending his time as CEO dealing with the fallout from crises involving the 737 Max, the US planemaker’s best-selling aircraft. Bloomberg

Boeing Co. announced sweeping changes to its management on Monday with its chief executive officer, head of commercial airplanes and chairman all stepping down as the company grapples with a crisis centred on its most important product, the 737 Max jetliner.

CEO Dave Calhoun will leave the company at the end of 2024, while Chairman Larry Kellner will not stand for re-election, Boeing said in a statement. Stan Deal, who leads Boeing’s commercial airplanes division, will also retire immediately. Chief Operating Officer Stephanie Pope will take on Deal’s role, the company said.

Calhoun, a long-time Boeing director and veteran of General Electric Co. and Blackstone Group LP, is ending his time as CEO dealing with the fallout from crises involving the 737 Max, the US planemaker’s best-selling aircraft.

The changes come amid growing customer frustration with Calhoun and Deal as a crisis centering on the planemaker’s manufacturing quality and safety shows no signs of receding nearly three months after a fuselage panel blew out of an airborne 737 Max in January.

A sweeping audit of Boeing and its suppliers by the US Federal Aviation Administration raised concerns about the company’s safety culture, the agency’s top official said last week.

Boeing’s shares rose 2 percent as of 8:08 am on March 25 before regular trading in New York. The stock had tumbled 28 percent this year through March 22, the worst performer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

On Calhoun’s watch, Boeing returned the 737 Max to commercial service in 2020 following a lengthy global grounding in the wake of two accidents in rapid succession. Just as the planemaker rebuilt its reputation and geared up to deliver its popular 737 to China again, an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 lost a fuselage panel in mid-air on Jan. 5, throwing the company back into turmoil.