Amid a disastrous year triggered by the blow-up of a plug-in door on an Alaska Airlines flight in January, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun has announced his will be leaving the company at the end of the year.
The Alaska Airlines incident, which is now under investigation by the FBI, was the fist in a series of accidents that Boeing aircraft have been experiencing this year, raising serious concerns over the manufacturer’s quality controls.
The Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident was a watershed moment for Boeing. We must continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency. The eyes of the world are on us.
Dave Calhoun, Boeing CEO
Calhoun took on the role of CEO in 2020, after his predecessor, Dennis Muilenburg, resigned following two fatal accidents involving Boeing planes. In 2019, all Boeing 737 Max aircraft were grounded for one and a half years after two crashes occurred within 6 months of each other, a Lion Air flight in Indonesia and an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi. Investigations revealed that both were caused by faulty aircraft.
In his letter to employees, Calhoun said that it was his decision to leave the company, as he only “agreed to take on the role of CEO of Boeing at the board’s request (…) because of the unprecedented circumstances the company was facing at that time”.
It is not just Calhoun who is leaving, but the company seems to be undertaking a complete restructuring. His “long-time partner in all things Boeing”, chair Larry Kellner, is also leaving the company and will be replaced by Steve Mollenkopf, who will be tasked with choosing a new CEO after Calhoun.
Moreover, the Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and Chief Executive Officer Stan Deal will retire and has already been replaced in the role by Stephanie Pope, effective today (25 March). Pope has been serving as COO of Boeing since January of this year. Previously, she was President and CEO of Boeing Global Services and, before, CFO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
In the follow-up investigation of the Alaska Airlines blow-out, it has been revealed that Alaska Airlines pilots had flagged depressurisation problems on previous flights operated on the same plane, which had been ignored. More worryingly, the FAA has found loose bolts and even misdrilled holes in some aircraft’s fuselage. In the last update, the FAA gave Boeing 90 days to “must develop a comprehensive action plan to address its systemic quality-control issues to meet FAA’s non-negotiable safety standards.”
Meanwhile other Boeing models have also been facing problems. The windshield of a 777 cracked on 28 February and earlier this year, the nose wheel of a 757 just fell off and rolled down the runway at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Yet another wheel fell off a 777-200 on 7 March, damaging several cars in San Francisco. On 4 March, the engine of a 737 burst into flames only minutes after take-off and, on the morning of 11 March, a Latam Airlines flight operated on a 787-9 Dreamliner suddenly lost altitude about one hour before reaching its destination, sending passengers flying through the cabin.
