- Dave Calhoun to leave chief executive role by end of year
- Boeing has suspended guidance in the wake of the Alaska Air door blowout in January
Boeing (US:BA) has confirmed that its under-fire chief executive Dave Calhoun will leave the business by the end of the year as part of a leadership shake-up.
The head of Boeing’s commercial aerospace business, Stan Deal, is out the door immediately and the company’s chair, Larry Kellner, will not seek re-election at a forthcoming shareholders' meeting. COO Stephanie Pope is taking over the commercial aerospace CEO role.
Calhoun was drafted in as Boeing’s chief executive four years ago after the company fired former boss Dennis Muilenburg in the wake of two fatal crashes involving its 737 Max narrowbody plane, which led to 346 deaths. Both Boeing and Muilenburg subsequently settled a case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission which argued the company had “put profits over people by misleading investors” about the safety of the 737 Max.
Although Calhoun pledged on his appointment to “strengthen our safety culture, improve transparency and rebuild trust”, Boeing has continued to be dogged by safety and quality issues, including the blowout of a door in mid-air on a 737 Max 9 flight operated by Alaska Air January. Boeing has also continued to lose money and market share to competitor Airbus (FR:AIR). The company's shares are down 24 per cent year-to-date, while Airbus is up 20 per cent.
Ex-Qualcomm chief executive Steve Mollenkopf has been elected by Boeing's board as its new chair and will lead the hunt for a new chief executive.
Stifel analyst Bert W. Subin welcomed the news, saying the leadership shake-up and Boeing reacquiring the Spirit AeroSystems (US:SPR) business would help the planemaker “to get back on track towards normalising production”. Spirit makes Boeing's fuselages and aerostructures and was hived off in 2005.
Subin said the door blowout had likely changed the company's succession plan. "Dave Calhoun is about to turn 67 years old and the company was teeing up Stephanie Pope but that seems to have changed in favour of an external search for a new CEO," he said. "[We] think the reaction will be positive as it's another step toward actionable change following the announcement Boeing may seek to reabsorb supplier Spirit AeroSystems."
