As Boeing continues to deal with the fallout of the 737 MAX crisis, the company on Monday announced that its CEO Dennis Muilenburg would be stepping down from his post, with chairman David Calhoun to replace him.
In a statement, the company announced that its Board of Directors had named David L. Calhoun as CEO and President effective from January 13, 2020. While Calhoun would remain a member of the Board, Board member Lawrence W. Kellner would become non-executive chairman of the Board effective immediately.
Boeing Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith would serve as interim CEO during the “brief” transition period, while Calhoun exits his non-Boeing commitments.
According to the statement, the Board of Directors decided that “a change in leadership was necessary to restore confidence in the Company moving forward as it works to repair relationships with regulators, customers and all other stakeholders.”
The Boeing 737-MAX was the company’s re-engined upgrade to the 737 lineup, serving as a fourth generation of the well-known 737 line of planes and sold to over 100 customers across the world. However, a pair of crashes in October 2018 and March 2019, that caused the deaths of 346 people, led to the plane being grounded by aviation authorities worldwide.
After an internal investigation, Boeing blamed the aircraft’s Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) software—an anti-stall mechanism that tilts the nose of the plane up and that pilots in both incidents appear to have been battling in a bid to regain control of the aircraft.
Up to 387 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft were grounded worldwide following the incidents. After patching the software believed responsible for the crash, Boeing hoped to get the 737 MAX back in the air by the end of the year—but was rebuffed by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) in the US.
"On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, I am pleased that Dave has agreed to lead Boeing at this critical juncture. Dave has deep industry experience and a proven track record of strong leadership, and he recognizes the challenges we must confront. The Board and I look forward to working with him and the rest of the Boeing team to ensure that today marks a new way forward for our company," Kellner was quoted as saying.
Boeing’s next CEO, Calhoun, wrote, "I strongly believe in the future of Boeing and the 737 MAX. I am honoured to lead this great company and the 150,000 dedicated employees who are working hard to create the future of aviation."
Muilenburg succeeded James McDerney as CEO of Boeing in 2015.
