Boeing CEO David Calhoun will step down from the embattled plane maker at the end of the year as part of a broader management shakeup after a series of mishaps at one of America's most storied manufacturers.
Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing's commercial airplanes unit, will retire immediately. Stephanie Pope, the company's chief operating officer, will lead the division.
The company said board Chairman Lawrence Kellner does not plan to stand for re-election in May.
Boeing has been under intense pressure since early January, when a panel blew off a brand-new Alaska Airlines 737 Max. Investigators say bolts that help keep the panel in place were at the Boeing factory.
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The Federal Aviation Administration has of the company, including putting a limit on production of 737s. An of Boeing's 737 factory near Seattle gave the company failing grades on nearly three dozen aspects of production.
Amid the mounting regulatory pressure, Boeing posted a $30 million quarterly loss in January.
The planemaker's ºüÀêÊÓƵ-area defense programs are in a separate business unit from the largely Seattle-based commercial planes unit that has drawn public attention for a pattern of quality problems in recent months. But the one isn't entirely insulated from the other.
"I see no evidence of quality control issues on the defense side," said Loren Thompson, a longtime defense analyst. "However, the financial health of the defense business was closely tied to revenues generated by the 737."
Bold bets on the defense side — like the ºüÀêÊÓƵ-made T-7 trainer and MQ-25 refueling drone — were made on the assumption that the company could expect continued, strong cash flow from the 737, Thompson said.
Over the past few months, airline executives have expressed their frustration with the company, and even seemingly minor incidents involving Boeing jets have attracted extra attention.
Fallout from the Jan. 5 blowout has raised scrutiny of Boeing to its highest level since two Boeing 737 Max jets crashed in 2018 in Indonesia and 2019 in Ethiopia. In all, the crashes killed 346 people.
In a note Monday to employees, Calhoun, 67, called the accident "a watershed moment for Boeing." that requires "a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company."
"The eyes of the world are on us, and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years," he said.
Calhoun indicated that the decision to leave was his.
Calhoun's end-of-year departure may suggest the company plans to search externally for a successor, said Thompson, the defense analyst.
"Calhoun's job is going to have a very steep learning curve for anyone who replaces him," Thompson said. "That curve would unfold over years if it was an outsider to the industry… Even within the industry, Calhoun has very few peers."
In 2005, the company appointed the former head of 3M, W. James McNerney Jr., to the chief executive role.
The company said Monday that its board has picked former Qualcomm CEO Steven Mollenkopf to become the new chairman and lead the search for Calhoun's replacement.
Calhoun was a Boeing director when he in January 2020, replacing Dennis Muilenburg, who was fired in the aftermath of the Max crashes.
Shares of The Boeing Co. rose 2% at the opening bell.
Annika Merrilees, of the Post-Dispatch, contributed to this report.