A search for a new chief executive is underway at Boeing, which announced Monday that CEO Dave Calhoun is stepping down at the end of 2024.
Several other management shakeups were also announced. Board Chair Larry Kellner will not seek reelection at Boeing’s annual shareholder meeting. The board has elected Steve Mollenkopf, who was previously CEO at Qualcomm and has been on Boeing’s board since 2020, as independent board chair. Mollenkopf will lead the search for a new CEO.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Stan Deal is retiring from the company. Stephanie Pope, who has been company COO since January, is succeeding him, effective immediately. Pope was previously president and CEO of Boeing Global Services.
CNBC asked aviation experts to speculate on who some top candidates for the role could be. In addition to Pope, the list includes:
Boeing has had a series of recent safety, supply-chain and manufacturing-quality issues, particularly involving its top-selling 737 MAX jets. In January, a door plug blew out on a Boeing MAX 9 while flying an Alaska Airlines route from Portland, Ore., to Ontario, Calif. The incident, which caused an uncontrolled loss of cabin pressure but only resulted in a few minor injuries, has prompted federal probes, including a criminal one by the Justice Department.
In a letter to employees, Calhoun called the incident with the Alaska Airlines flight a “watershed moment for Boeing.” You can read his full letter here.
Calhoun was brought in four years ago to help Boeing get back on track after two crashes involving the company’s 737 MAX 8 in 2018 and 2019 killed 346 people and grounded the planes worldwide.
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