Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun speaks to reporters as he departs from a meeting in Sen. Mark Warner’s (D-Va.) office at the Capitol on January 24, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images
boeing CEO Dave Calhoun is set to step down at the end of 2024 as part of a broader management shakeup at the beleaguered aerospace giant.
Boeing announced Monday that Larry Kellner, chairman of the company’s board of directors, will not run for re-election at Boeing’s annual meeting in May. He will be replaced as chairman by Steve Mollenkopf, a former CEO of Qualcomm and a member of Boeing’s board of directors since 2020. Boeing said Molenkopf will lead the board of directors in selecting a new CEO.
And Stan Diehl, president and chief executive officer of Boeing’s commercial aircraft division, 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 are calling for major reforms at the company after a number of quality and manufacturing defects in Boeing planes. On January 5th, a nearly new Boeing 737 Max was under increased scrutiny after a door plug popped out after nine minutes. alaska airlines Flight.
“As you all know, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was a watershed moment for Boeing,” Calhoun said in a letter to employees Monday. “We must continue to respond to this incident with humility and full transparency, and instill a strong commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company.”
“The world’s eyes are on us, and we are confident that we will emerge from this moment as a better company, building on all the learnings we have accumulated over the past several years as we helped rebuild Boeing.” “We are doing so,” he wrote.
Calhoun said in an interview with CNBC on Monday that his decision to resign was “100 percent” his own.
“We have another mountain to climb,” Calhoun said. “Don’t avoid the call to action. Don’t avoid the changes that need to be made in the factory. Don’t avoid the need to slow down a little bit and let the supply chain catch up.”
Calhoun, who served on Boeing’s board for more than a decade, was fired in January 2020 after the company fired former CEO Dennis Muilenburg over his handling of two deadly 737 Max crashes. He took the top job at the company.
For months, Mr. Calhoun has promised investors, airline customers and the general public that he would bring Boeing’s myriad quality struggles under control. The Federal Aviation Administration has stepped up its scrutiny of Boeing, and following the Alaska Airlines crash, the agency’s administrator, Mike Whitaker, said Boeing would be prohibited from increasing production of 737s until the FAA was satisfied with the company’s quality control. said.
Comparison of Boeing stock price and S&P 500
Boeing’s production problems are delaying deliveries of new aircraft to customers and hampering its growth plans. Including his CEO of the company’s largest customer. united airlines, southwest airlines and american airlines Publicly complained about the delays.
Ryanair, Boeing’s largest airline customer in Europe, said in a statement on Monday that it welcomed the change in management.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said: “Stan Diehl has been a great salesman for Boeing for many years, but he is not the type of person to turn around the Seattle business. That’s where most of the problems lie.” Video posted on social media platform X.
Earlier this month, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby told Boeing that it would not be able to purchase Max 10 aircraft that have not yet been certified for the company, as it is unclear when the FAA will issue permission to fly these aircraft. He said that he had requested that the production of the product be discontinued.
Airline CEOs last week scheduled a meeting with Boeing board members to voice their dissatisfaction with a lack of manufacturing quality control and lower-than-expected 737 Max production. started to set up. The meeting was to be attended by Mr. 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 production of the 737 Max.
Boeing stock rose 1.4% on Monday following the announcement. The company’s stock price has fallen more than 26% since the beginning of the year.
