Boeing CEO to step down as 737 Max crisis weighs on aerospace giant

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of 2024 in part of a broad management shake-up for the embattled aerospace giant.

Chairman of the board Larry Kellner is also resigning and will not stand for reelection at Boeing’s annual meeting in May. He will be replaced as chair by Steve Mollenkopf, who has been a Boeing director since 2020 and will lead the board in picking a new CEO, Boeing said.

And Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, is leaving the company effective immediately. Moving into his job is Stephanie Pope, who recently became Boeing’s chief operating officer after previously running Boeing Global Services.

The departures come as airlines and regulators have been increasing calls for major changes at the company after a host of quality and manufacturing flaws on Boeing planes. Scrutiny intensified after a Jan. 5 accident, when a door plug blew out of a nearly new Boeing 737 Max 9 minutes into an Alaska Airlines flight.