Boeing CEO to step down at the end of the year
RENTON, Wash. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of 2024 in part of a broad management shakeup for the embattled aerospace giant.
"I've entered my fifth year. The end of this year, I'll be close to 68 years old. I've always said to the board, and the board has been very prepared, I would give them plenty of notice. So that they could understand and plan succession in regular order. And that's what this is about. It's me giving them notice that at the end of this year, I plan to retire, and then them taking the actions that they've taken. I'm actually very proud of the way the board has handled everything. Very deliberate."
Dave Calhoun, Boeing CEO
Chairman of the Board Larry Kellner and Stan Deal, President and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, are leaving the company as well.
The departures come as airlines and regulators have been increasing calls for major changes at the company after a host of quality and manufacturing flaws on Boeing planes.
"Another mountain to climb"
Scrutiny intensified after a January 5 accident, when a door plug blew out of a nearly new Boeing 737 Max 9, minutes into an Alaska Airlines flight.
"We have another mountain to climb. Let's not avoid what happened with Alaska Air, let's not avoid the call for action, let's not avoid the changes that we have to make in our factory. Let's not avoid that need to slow down a bit and let the supply chain catch up. We got to get at that just like we got at the rest and we will get through that. We will get through that and I've committed myself to the board to do exactly that."
Dave Calhoun, Boeing CEO
Calhoun, for months, has promised investors, airline customers and the general public that Boeing will get its myriad of quality struggles under control.
He was appointed to the top job in late 2019 and took the helm at Boeing in early 2020 after the company ousted its previous chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, for his handling of the aftermath of two deadly 737 Max crashes.
