The storm that engulfed the 737 Max shook Boeing right down to the foundations, leading to epochal changes at the top of the company. The CEO Dave Calhoun is preparing to leave the helm at the end of 2024, while the chairman of the board of directors Larry Kellner he will resign at the annual meeting in May. Taking the reins in Kellner's place will be none other than Steve Mollenkopf, a board member since 2020.
But the surprises don't end there: he also resigned with immediate effect Stan Deal, head of the Commercial Airplanes division (currently under investigation). She will be replaced by Stephanie Pope, recently appointed Chief Operating Officer after leading Boeing Global Services.
On the stock market, Boeing shares gained 0,20%, but have suffered a loss of 27% since the beginning of the year.
The 737 Max crisis: all the plane crashes
The decision was made after inspectors from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the United States federal aviation body, found numerous problems in the 737 Max production lines at both Boeing's factories near Seattle and Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kansas. The latter is a separate company that produces fuselages for Boeing.
The latest episode, which occurred on 5st January on a Alaska Airlines flight, forced an emergency landing due to a hatch explosion. In response, Alaska Airlines decided to temporarily ground all of its planes of the same model as Flight 1281, a Boeing 737-9. Problems for a Boeing also in Japan: another 737 had to emergency land in Japan due to a crack on the cockpit window. These episodes are in addition to two serious accidents precedents involving Boeing 737 Max 8s, one occurred in Indonesia in October 2018, and the other in Ethiopia in March 2019, where 346 people lost their lives. These tragic events resulted in a nearly two-year grounding of the aircraft, incalculable reputational damage, federal investigations and billions of dollars in expenses.
Now the company prepares for a new chapter with the arrival of new executives, while the aviation sector anxiously awaits the changes and consequences of these events on one of the industry's leading companies.
Ryanair's reply
“We welcome these much-needed management changes in Seattle,” commented Michael O'Leary, CEO of Ryanair, which says it is forced to reduce traffic and raise tickets for the summer season due to delays in Boeing 737 deliveries. “We look forward to working with Stephanie Pope to accelerate deliveries of 737 aircraft to customers, including Ryanair in Europe, for summer and autumn 2024 ”.
