Boeing chief executive Dave Calhoun to leave as firm faces safety crisis
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will depart by the year’s end amidst an escalating crisis regarding the company’s safety track record. Additionally, Boeing announced the immediate retirement of the head of its commercial airlines division, and its chairman will not seek re-election.
The company faces mounting pressure following an incident in January where an unused door blew out of a Boeing 737 Max shortly after take-off. While there were no injuries, the incident prompted renewed scrutiny of Boeing’s safety and quality control standards.
Analysts widely agree that a leadership change at Boeing is long overdue. Stewart Glickman, an equity analyst at CFRA Research, emphasized the necessity of a top-level shake-up, attributing the current crisis to underlying issues within Boeing’s corporate culture that require fresh perspectives to resolve.
Mr. Calhoun assumed the CEO position in early 2020 following the ousting of the previous CEO, Dennis Muilenburg, in the wake of one of Boeing’s most significant scandals. In a span of five months, two new 737 Max planes were lost in nearly identical accidents, resulting in the tragic deaths of 346 passengers and crew.
When Mr. Calhoun took over, he promised to strengthen Boeing’s “safety culture” and “rebuild trust”.
However, in January this year, a disused emergency exit door blew off a new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max shortly after take-off from Portland International Airport.
An initial report from the US National Transportation Safety Board concluded that four bolts meant to attach the door securely to the aircraft had not been fitted.
Boeing is facing a criminal investigation into the incident itself, as well as legal action from passengers aboard the plane.
Mr Calhoun said on Monday: “The eyes of the world are on us, and I know that we will come through this moment a better company.”
In a letter to staff, he described the Alaska Airlines incident as a “watershed moment” for Boeing and said it had to respond with “humility and complete transparency”.
The episode revived concerns among regulators in Washington and Boeing’s airline customers that the company’s corporate culture has focused on speed ahead of safety.
The Federal Aviation Administration said earlier this month that a six-week audit of the 737 Max production process at Boeing and its supplier Spirit Aerosystems had found “multiple instances where the companies failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements”.
The findings came shortly after another report into Boeing’s safety culture by an expert panel found a “disconnect” between senior management and regular staff, as well as signs that staff were hesitant about reporting problems for fear of retaliation.
After the two plane crashes in October 2018 and 2019, it was found that flawed flight control software caused the incidents – details of which Boeing was accused of deliberately concealing from regulators.
The company agreed to pay $2.5bn (£1.8bn) to settle fraud charges and admitted deception, though in later court hearings it formally pleaded not guilty.
It subsequently faced widespread accusations that it had put profits ahead of passengers’ lives.
Michael Stumo, whose daughter Samya Rose was killed in the 2019 Boeing 737 Max crash in Ethiopia, called the change in leadership “necessary and overdue”, noting that Mr Calhoun had been with the company since 2009, when he joined its board of directors.
“Now they need to search the world for the best chief executive with proven performance on production quality/ safety in complex [manufacturing],” he wrote on social media.
The crisis at Boeing has caused wider disruption in the travel industry as the company, one of the world’s two major jet-makers, slows its manufacturing lines to try to get a grip on the problems.
Airlines, including Ryanair, have warned of higher ticket prices and more limited flight schedules as they face delayed aircraft deliveries.
For Boeing, the slowdown is already generating multi-billion dollar charges, while rival Airbus gains advantage. The firm is also facing criticism it has failed to innovate.
As well as Mr Calhoun, Stan Deal will leave his role as head of Boeing’s commercial airlines division immediately. He will be replaced by Stephanie Pope who has spent the past three months working as the Boeing’s chief operating officer.
Larry Kellner, the firm’s chair will also leave and be replaced by Steve Mollenkopf, the former boss of Qualcomm who has been a board member at Boeing since 2020. He will lead the search for a new chief executive.
