Calhoun David (David Calhoun)

Calhoun David (David Calhoun)

Biography

2019: Appointment as CEO of Boeing

On December 23, 2019, Boeing announced the resignation of Dennis Muilenburg as CEO. David Calhoun, the former head of Nielsen and GE Infrastructure and a Boeing board member, will take his place. He will also become president of Boeing.

Until January 13, 2029, the CFO of the company Greg Smith will temporarily act as CEO of Boeing. Immediately thereafter, another board member, Lawrence Kellner, will become chairman without executive authority.

Boeing announces resignation of Dennis Muilenburg as CEO

Muilenburg left the post of CEO and board of directors immediately, that is, December 23, 2019.

Muilenburg's departure, as follows from the company's statement, should help restore its reputation, damaged by the scandal surrounding the Boeing 737 Max aircraft. It was discontinued due to defective software that caused two major plane crashes. There was a malfunction of the MCAS system, which is responsible for the angle of inclination of the aircraft nose.

The board of directors decided that a change in leadership is necessary to restore confidence that the company is moving forward and working to restore relations with regulators, consumers and all other stakeholders, Boeing said in a statement.

The updated management should deal with the "safe return of the 737 Max to operation" and adhere to the principles of transparency and better communication with regulators, the company explained.

In early December 2019, Boeing fired its chief engineer, John Hamilton, who previously spoke in the US Congress with Muilenburg in the crash case.

Earlier, Muilenburg, who has worked for the company since 1985, waived annual bonuses and stock rewards before the resumption of Boeing 737 Max flights.^[1]

2024: Resigning after defective aircraft scandal

Boeing management is stepping down after a scandal involving defective planes. This decision was announced on March 25, 2024. In particular, the company leaves:

• chief executive officer David Calhoun;
• chairman Larry Kellner. His place will be taken by Steve Mollekopf, former CEO of Qualcomm;
• Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, which produces Boeing civilian aircraft. Instead, the divisions will be headed by Boeing Chief Operating Officer Stephanie Pope.

David Calhoun, who has led Boeing since January 2020, said that the January 2024 incident with the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX, which due to depressurization made an emergency landing shortly after departure and lost part of the fuselage, "was a turning point" for the corporation. Boeing is forced to respond to this event "with complete transparency" and instill in workers a "duty to ensure complete safety," Calhoun said, commenting on the statement about the change in the corporation's leadership.

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For the past five years, we have been working together to address some of the biggest challenges our company and industry has ever faced in our 108-year history, "Calhoun wrote in a letter to employees.

Boeing's new CEO has not been named by March 26, 2024. On March 25, 2024, when Boeing announced the departure of several top managers, the company's shares rose 2.4%. And since the beginning of 2024, the market capitalization of the American aircraft manufacturer has decreased by 27.6% (to $115.22 billion) due to a series of incidents that questioned the reliability of Boeing aircraft and the quality of corporate governance.^[2]

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