The fact that a piece of the fuselage of a Boeing Max plane goes to the ground in mid-flight has consequences. It is the equivalent of opening Pandora’s box.
The incident, recorded on an Alaska Airlines flight in January, became the main reason for Dave Calhoun, the CEO of the US aerospace giant, to announce on Monday that at the end of the year he will leave the position and the firm, in which it emerged as an antidote to the crisis that arose after two tragic accidents recorded in 2018 and 2019.
These new turbulences mean that Calhoun does not go alone. The chairman of the board of directors, Larry Kellner, will also step down after the annual meeting in May. He will be replaced by Steve Mollenkopf, who has served as a Boeing executive since 2020.
And, in addition, Stan Deal, president and director of the commercial area, will leave the company immediately. His position will be filled by Stephanie Pope, who held the position of head of the operations office, after taking care of global services for Boeing.
The resignations come after airlines and regulators increased scrutiny of the manufacturer following the incident of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 that lost a safety door that was supposed to be closed, few minutes after taking off from an airport in Oregon. Then there was a cascade of cases, although none as serious as the first, which forced an emergency landing. No one was seriously injured, beyond the scare. The FBI opened an investigation.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which regulates aircraft manufacturers, forced the Boeing 737 Max 9 to stay on the ground. When the agency cleared them to take off again, it also imposed limits on Boeing’s planned production increase for the Max, thwarting the U.S. company’s latest attempt to better compete with Airbus. its European rival.
“As you know, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was a defining moment for Boeing,” Calhoun wrote to workers yesterday. “We must continue to respond to the accident with humility and absolute transparency, and we must instill a total commitment to safety and quality at each and every level of our company,” he stressed, explaining his sudden decision.
“The eyes of the world are on us and I know that this moment will make our company better, rebuilding with all the learning we have accumulated, as we work together to rebuild Boeing from what it has been through these past few years.” he stated
The chief executive last week began scheduling a series of meetings with Boeing executives to express unease over the lack of quality controls on manufactured planes and the low production outlook for the 737 Max.
For months Calhoun promised investors, his aircraft customers and the general public that Boeing would get the myriad quality problems that had cropped up under control. The opposite happened. Since the incident in January, the company’s shares had fallen by around 25%. They recovered yesterday, but by mid-session they were up just 1.4%.
Calhoun was named to the company’s top job in late 2019 and took command in early 2020, following the ouster of predecessor Dennis Muilenburg over the mishandling of two tragic 737 crashes Max (a pre-9 model) in 2018 and 2019. There were 346 deaths.
