Boeing’s Calhoun to step down as chief executive
25 / 03 / 2024
Dave Calhoun. Photo: Boeing
Boeing president and chief executive Dave Calhoun will step down as chief executive at the end of 2024, while Stan Deal, Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) president and chief executive will retire from the company.
Calhoun, who has been in the dual role since January 2020, will remain as president of the company. A replacement chief executive has not yet been named.
In a letter to employees, Calhoun spoke of the challenges that Boeing has faced in the wake of the January Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident, in which a door plug blew out while a Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft was in flight.
He said: “As you all know, the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident was a watershed moment for Boeing. We must continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency. We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company.
“The eyes of the world are on us, and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years.”
Boeing said that Calhoun will continue to lead Boeing through the rest of the year to “complete the critical work underway to stabilize and position the company for the future”.
Calhoun added: “It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve in both roles and I will only feel the journey has been properly completed when we finish the job that we need to do.”
Following Deal’s announcement that he will retire as BCA president and chief executive, Stephanie Pope has been appointed to lead BCA, effective March 25.
Pope has been serving as chief operating officer of Boeing since January of this year. Previously, she was president and chief executive of Boeing Global Services, where she was responsible for leading the company’s aerospace services for commercial, government and aviation industry customers worldwide.
Prior to this, she was chief financial officer of BCA, and has held positions in every Boeing business unit. She begins her new role immediately.
In addition to this, board chair Larry Kellner has informed the board that he does not intend to stand for re-election at the upcoming annual shareholder meeting.
The board has elected Steve Mollenkopf to succeed Kellner as independent board chair. In this role, Mollenkopf will lead the board’s process of selecting Boeing’s next chief executive.
Kellner has served on the Boeing board for 13 years and served as its chair since late 2019. As chair, he oversaw the establishment of a new board aerospace safety committee, and during his tenure led the recruitment of seven new independent directors, bringing deep engineering, safety, manufacturing and aerospace expertise to Boeing’s board.
Mollenkopf has served on the board of directors since 2020. He was previously chief executive of semiconductor firm Qualcomm.
