Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun to Step Down

Boeing president and CEO Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of 2024 as part of an executive shakeup for the Seattle-based aerospace giant.

Calhoun, who has led Boeing since January 2020 and previously served as Boeing’s chairman, will continue in the role until the end of the year. No replacement has yet to be named.

Calhoun has experienced a tumultuous tenure as head of Boeing, particularly over the past few months. The January 5 Alaska Airlines incident, which Calhoun called a “watershed moment” in a message to employees on Monday, forced groundings of Boeing’s 737 MAX 9 aircraft and brought increased scrutiny to the company.

That scrutiny came from the public, lawmakers, and airline CEOs, which includes American’s Robert Isom who ripped Boeing during the company’s Q4 earnings call in January, saying that Boeing “needs to get its act together.”

“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve Boeing,” Calhoun wrote in that letter to employees. “The eyes of the world are on us, and I know that we will come through this moment a better company. We will remain squarely focused on completing the work we have done together to return our company to stability after the extraordinary challenges of the past five years, with safety and quality at the forefront of everything that we do.”

At the same time, Stan Deal, Boeing’s president and CEO of commercial airplanes, will leave the company effective immediately. Deal, who has been in that position since October 2019, will be replaced by Stephanie Pope, the company’s COO.

The Boeing board is also undergoing some major changes with chairman Larry Kellner resigning and leaving the board in May. Steve Mollenkopf, a Boeing director since 2020, will take over as chairman starting then.