Boeing CEO Announces Monday He Will Step Down End of Year

A memo released to Boeing aircraft and other workers on Monday morning indicates the current CEO is stepping down.

  CEO announces he is leaving

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun made the announcement via Boeing's internal Medium service. The announcement read in part:

"As you all know, 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. We also must inculcate 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."

It went on to say:

"It is the future of our company that is the subject of my letter to you today. I have been considering for some time, in discussion with our board of directors, the right time for a CEO transition at Boeing. I want to share with you that I have decided this will be my last year as CEO of our great company, and I have notified the board of that decision."

Over the last number of months, Boeing has been plagued by a new round of maintenance and mechanical issues, the latest being the door cover blowout on an Alaska Air 737 heading from Portland to CA.  The follow-up investigation showed there were missing bolts, and recently Boeing officials said they could not locate some of the required specific maintenance paperwork on that plane.

Last week, the airline monitoring website SkyGoFly.com reported United Airlines is apparently planning to obtain 30 Airbus a321Neojets from leasing companies to offset the delay in receiving new 737 aircraft from Boeing.  The a321 is the Airbus competitor to the Boeing 737, both are very comparable aircraft.

According to the website, this could be a significant 'hit' for Boeing:

"Switching some orders to Airbus presents a notable opportunity for the European manufacturer to gain ground over Boeing, which has faced turmoil following a significant incident involving a 737 Max 9 in early January."