Dave Calhoun will leave his position as Boeing CEO as the aircraft manufacturer reels from the 737 Max safety crisis.
Boeing aircraft manufacturer on March 25 announced a series of changes in senior personnel. Accordingly, CEO Dave Calhoun will leave at the end of this year.
Calhoun is under pressure from recent incidents with Boeing aircraft. On January 5, Alaska Airlines' 1 MAX 737 made an emergency landing because the door panel opened at an altitude of 9 meters. Three days later, United Airlines discovered that a series of 5.000 MAX 737 aircraft had loose screws during preliminary inspection.
This incident is making Boeing distrusted by US officials and angry with airlines. Last week, a group of US airline CEOs met with the Boeing Board of Directors to express concerns about the incident with Alaska Airlines.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun in Washington in January 1. Image: Reuters
Boeing Chairman Larry Kellner will also leave the Board of Directors. Former Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf has been appointed to replace him.
Stan Deal - CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes also resigned. Stephanie Pope – COO Boeing since January will take on this position.
Boeing must now limit production while it tries to fix the quality problem. This will cost them more money than expected. In a Bank of America conference on March 20, Boeing Chief Financial Officer Brian West predicted that in the first quarter, Boeing could lose $3-4 billion in cash. Since the beginning of the year, Boeing shares have lost nearly 4,5%.
Boeing's incident caused orders to flow to Airbus - their main competitor. Last week, the airline received orders for 65 aircraft from Boeing's two traditional customers in Asia, Japan Airlines (JAL) and Korean Air.
Ha Thu (according to Reuters, CNN)
