Boeing CEO to step down this year, board chairman to exit, head of commercial airplanes retires

Washington, March 25

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down from the embattled plane maker at the end of the year after a series of mishaps at one of America’s most storied manufacturers.

Board Chair Larry Kellner has also told the company he doesn’t plan to stand for re-election.

Boeing also said Monday that Stan Deal, president and CEO of its commercial airplanes unit, will retire from the company. Stephanie Pope will now lead the division.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has put the company under intense scrutiny and recently ordered an audit of assembly lines at a Boeing factory near Seattle, where the company builds planes like the Alaska Airlines 737 Max that suffered a door-panel blowout on January 5. Investigators say bolts that help keep the panel in place were missing after repair work at the Boeing factory. The incident has raised scrutiny of Boeing to its highest level since two crashes of Boeing 737 Max jets in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.

Shares rose more than 2% before the market open.