Dennis Muilenburg stepped down as the CEO of Boeing. The majority has known that the company has faced a lot of setbacks this year.
This includes two fatal crashes and quite several delays and issues with its 737 Max airplanes, which said to be the essential product in the air.
A press release was made on December 23 and announced today that its Board of Directors had named current Chairman David L. Calhoun, as Chief Executive Officer and President, effective January 13, 2020. Mr. Calhoun will remain a member of the Board. Besides, Board member Lawrence W. Kellner will become non-executive Chairman of the Board effective immediately.
The company also announced that Dennis A. Muilenburg has resigned from his positions as Chief Executive Officer and Board director effective immediately. Boeing Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith will serve as interim CEO during the brief transition period, while Mr. Calhoun exits his non-Boeing commitments.
The Board of Directors decided that a change in leadership was necessary to restore confidence in the company moving forward as it works to repair relationships with regulators, customers, and all other stakeholders.
Under the company’s new leadership, Boeing will operate with a renewed commitment to full transparency, including practical and proactive communication with the [Federal Aviation Administration], other global regulators, and its customers.”
“On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, I am pleased that Dave has agreed to lead Boeing at this critical juncture,” Mr. Kellner said. He added, “Dave has the deep industry experience and a proven track record of strong leadership, and he recognizes the challenges we must confront. The Board and I look forward to working with him and the rest of the Boeing team to ensure that today marks a new way forward for our company.”
Calhoun made a statement and said, “I strongly believe in the future of Boeing and the 737 MAX, I am honored to lead this great company and the 150,000 dedicated employees who are working hard to create the future of aviation.”
Calhoun worked before as a senior managing director with Blackstone Group and as CEO of Nelsen Holdings.
In the past, the Max series has been grounded by the FAA some days after a lot of countries issued similar mandates on the crash of the Ethiopian Airline 737 Max 8 that killed 157 people on the flight. That tragedy happened less than five months after another 737 Max 8 operated by Lion Air also crashed in Indonesia late in October 2018. It killed 189 passengers and crew members aboard.
The air safety officials identified the MCAS, as an automated control system in the plane as a factor why the 737 Max planes crashed. The software received erroneous data that led to override the pilot commands and thus pushes the plane downwards. Boeing said that it is now fixing the software and made an overhaul to its system.
Furthermore, the US lawmaker who is investigating said Boeing was aware that the system could be unreliable and thus have prioritized profit over safety.
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