Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down by the year-end. Following growing scrutiny brought on by the aircraft manufacturer’s sprawling safety crisis, Boeing has resorted to a management shake-up.
The ongoing safety crisis for the US commercial aviation market’s largest supplier of aircraft was kickstarted by the Alaska Airlines door blowout on a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft at the start of 2024.
Together with CEO Calhoun, board chair Larry Kellner and Stan Deal, head of the company's Commercial Planes business, have also announced they are stepping down, as Boeing's board tries to take control of the myriad issues which have knocked the industry-leading planemaker’s confidence and credibility over the past few months.
Boeing shares lost roughly a quarter of their value since the January door blowout incident. However, Monday showed signs of improvement: Boeing closed up 1.4% on the stock market by the end of the day, just off highs hit earlier in the day.
Despite this slight improvement, many investors claim the shake-up will not suffice in resolving Boeing’s issues.
Senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth, Robert Pavlik, said that Boeing needs “more than just a shake-up at the CEO and the chairman of the board level... they're just paralyzed from making decisions.”
"It's going to take a little bit more time for Boeing to get it straightened out," he continued.
Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ireland’s Ryanair, welcomed Boeing’s management changes on Monday as “much-needed”. Ryanair is one of Boeing’s top customers.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun claimed that he personally made the decision to step down: “It was me giving them notice that at the end of this year I plane to retire.”
However, Calhoun further mentioned that he intended to stay till the end of the year in order to address quality issues.
Meanwhile, current COO Stephanie Pope has been appointed to take over Boeing Commercial Airplanes from Monday, whilst former CEO of tech company Qualcomm, Steve Mollenkopf, has been appointed the new chair of Boeing’s board. Mollenkopf will lead the hunt for the company’s next CEO.