Boeing ousts CEO, picks chairman

As the two deadly crashes of Boeing’s 737 Max jetliner loom over the US-based aviation giant, Dennis Muilenburg has been ousted as the Chief Executive Officer by the board of directors. 

David Calhoun, who has served as the Chairman of Boeing since October, will be replacing Muilenburg as CEO and president from Jan. 13, according to a statement from Boeing. This move comes after Boeing recently announced that it would stop the output of Max, the aircrafts which have been grounded since March 2019. 

The board of directors unanimously installed Calhoun as the CEO while Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith would be serving as the interim CEO during the transition. Director Larry Kellner would be taking up Calhoun’s current role of the Chairman. 

In an attempt to regroup and get back in the game after Max grounding proved to be setback, this particular grounding of a major jetliner has been classified as one of the worst crisis of the modern aviation industry. Boeing’s long-standing reputation has suffered a dent after Max crashes killed 346 people. 

The relationship between Boeing and the regulator U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has also come under scrutiny by Congress and a criminal investigation by the Justice Department. 

Boeing has borrowed a page from the books of many companies who have faced failure before, by making a change in the leadership in order to re-instill confidence among various stakeholders, employees, and customers as well.