Boeing CEO Resigns as Part of Leadership Shakeup

Facts

• Boeing Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dave Calhoun on Monday announced his resignation effective at the end of the year, and the aerospace manufacturer announced several other changes to its leadership.¹
• The firm faces ongoing scrutiny from regulators and customers in light of the January mid-cabin blowout of a door plug on a Boeing 737 Max 9 Alaska Airlines flight.¹
• In addition to Calhoun's planned departure, Boeing Commercial President and CEO Stan Deal will retire and immediately cede his role to Stephanie Pope, who has been Boeing's chief operating officer since January. Also, Chair Larry Kellner will not stand for reelection and the board has voted for him to be replaced by Steve Mollenkopf.²
• These changes come days after a report said Kellner was scheduled to meet with top executives from some of Boeing's largest airline customers — but without Calhoun — to obtain feedback.³
• Since the Alaska Airlines incident, the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board have opened investigations into Boeing and its contractor, Spirit AeroSystems.⁴
• Earlier this month, the US Justice Department (DOJ) also began an investigation of the door-plug incident to determine whether anything related to it violated a deferred prosecution agreement the company and DOJ entered into in 2021 after two fatal 737 Max crashes.⁵

Sources: ¹Forbes, ²Business Insider, ³Bloomberg, ⁴POLITICO and ⁵CBS.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by CNBC. Calls for change at Boeing have been heard and things are going to change under new leaders. The Alaska Airlines incident was a watershed moment for turning things around, and the company will emerge from this situation stronger than ever with quality and safety first and foremost in everyone's minds. Customers and passengers can rest assured Boeing will do better moving forward
• Narrative B, as provided by AlterNet. Changing people on the company's leadership chart won't change things at Boeing until it rethinks the way it does business. For too long ownership has valued profits and cost-cutting over safety. Too many of the people in power come from the financial industry. Fundamental changes — not changes in leadership — must be made to secure the company's future and make flying in Boeing planes safer.

Predictions