Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun has announced his decision to step down by the end of the year, as confirmed by the company on Monday. This development comes amidst a series of challenges faced by the aviation giant, including production and quality control issues.
One notable incident earlier this year involved an Alaska Air flight losing a panel mid-flight on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft. Last week, Boeing’s CFO Brian West disclosed that the company is expecting cash outflows of up to $4.5 billion in the current quarter as part of efforts to address issues within its production processes. Following the announcement of Calhoun’s departure, Boeing’s stock experienced a 2.5% increase in value. However, the stock had seen a decline of over 27% throughout the year up to Friday’s close.
Calhoun took on the role of Boeing CEO in January 2020 during a challenging period for the company, marked by the tragic crashes of two 737 MAX jets – a Lion Air flight in October 2018 and an Ethiopian Airlines flight in March 2019, resulting in the loss of 346 lives. In a letter to employees, Calhoun shared that he had been contemplating his decision to step down for a while.
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He acknowledged the Alaska Air incident as a pivotal moment for Boeing, emphasizing the importance of the company’s response in the eyes of the global community. Calhoun expressed confidence in Boeing’s ability to emerge stronger from this period, drawing on the collective experiences and lessons learned during the company’s rebuilding efforts in recent years.
“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.
I want to thank each and every one of you for how you have stepped up to this challenge and for the work now underway to make sure we demonstrate to all stakeholders that the Boeing of the future is everything they should expect it to be. We have been working together for the last five years to address some of the most significant challenges our company and industry have ever faced in our 108-year history. I am confident that the way we have confronted these challenges, and how we are responding to this specific moment, is establishing standards for future generations of employees and will be woven into the fabric of how we operate for decades to come.”
In addition to Calhoun’s departure, Boeing announced that Larry Kellner, the current chairman of the board, will not seek re-election at the upcoming annual shareholders meeting. Steve Mollenkopf, former CEO of Qualcomm and a member of Boeing’s board since 2020, will succeed Kellner and lead the search for the next CEO. Furthermore, Stan Deal, the current CEO of Boeing’s Commercial Airplanes segment, is set to retire as part of these organizational changes.