Boeing (BA) CEO Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of the year, the company announced Monday.
Calhoun’s departure comes as the planemaker has dealt with a raft of production and quality control issues this year, most notably when one of its 737 MAX 9 planes flown by Alaska Air lost a panel in mid-flight back in January.
Last week, Boeing CFO Brian West said the company would see cash outflows of up to $4.5 billion during the current quarter as it works to shore up its production lines.
Boeing stock rose as much as 2.5% following the news. Through Friday’s close, the stock had lost more than 27% this year.
The company also announced Monday that Larry Kellner, chairman of its board, will not stand for re-election at the company’s upcoming annual shareholders meeting. Steve Mollenkopf, the former CEO of Qualcomm and a Boeing board member since 2020, will replace Kellner and lead the company’s search for its next CEO. Boeing also said Stan Deal, currently CEO of its Commercial Airplanes segment, will retire.
In a letter to employees on Monday, Calhoun said the Alaska Air incident, “was a watershed moment for Boeing.”
“The eyes of the world are on us,” Calhoun added, “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.”
Calhoun was named Boeing CEO back in January 2020 as the company grappled with repercussions following the crash of two 737 MAX jets — a Lion Air flight in October 2018 and an Ethiopia Airlines flight in March 2019. These crashes together resulted in the death of 346 people.
In his letter, Calhoun said he’d been weighing a decision to step down for “some time.”
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