The chief executive of Boeing will be leaving the company at the end of the year as the embattled airplane manufacturer continues its shake-up of management following a series of mishaps, the Associated Press reported.
In a March 25 statement announcing board and management changes, Boeing said CEO David Calhoun announced his decision to step down. The company said Calhoun would remain as chief executive to help Boeing “complete the critical work underway” and would be leaving at the end of the year.
According to the statement, effectively immediately, Stan Deal, the CEO and president of the commercial airplanes unit would be retiring. Stephanie Pope, Boeing’s Chief Operating Officer would step in to replace Deal.
Boeing’s current board chairman Lawrence Kellner announced that he would not seek reelection when the board meets in May, the statement said.
Calhoun took the reins of Boeing in 2020 after the company fired former CEO Dennis Muilenburg following the investigation into two fatal plane crashes in 2018 and 2019 in Indonesia and Ethiopia in which more than 340 people were killed.
Boeing reached a $2.5 billion deferred prosecution deal with the Department of Justice in January 2021 to resolve the investigation.
In recent months, Boeing has been under intense federal scrutiny since the door panel on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max blew off not long after take-off in early January.
A National Transportation Safety Board report on the incident concluded that the bolts that hold the door panel in place were missing after the 737 underwent repairs at Boeing’s factory.
In a March 25 memo to Boeing employees, David Calhoun said the January 5 blow-out was a “watershed moment” for Boeing that required “a total commitment to safety and quality at every level.”
Calhoun said in his memo that the decision to leave the company at the end of the year had been his.
Boeing’s board selected former Qualcomm CEO Steven Mollenkopft to head up the company’s search for a new CEO.
