Seattle, USA – For those watching Boeing, the question was not whether a change at the top would occur, but when.
When Boeing announced Monday that CEO Dave Calhoun would step down at the end of the year, some wondered why it took so long.
Mr. Calhoun, 66, took over the company amid one of the worst public confidence crises in its 100-year history following two fatal Boeing 737 MAX jetliner crashes in 2018 and 2019. He was appointed in 2020 to rebuild his fortunes.
The crash killed 346 people and grounded the Boeing 737 MAX around the world for several months.
And in January, a door plug popped out of the side of an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX, forcing pilots to take emergency measures.
The incident reinforced the perception that the company has not learned any lessons and has a prevailing culture that puts safety second to profit.
Barry Valentine, a former Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) official, said that while Boeing’s management team has traditionally been made up of engineers, new rivals such as France-based Airbus, founded in 2000, He said the situation had changed as the company responded.
“We went from being an engineer’s company to an accountant’s company,” Valentine told Al Jazeera.
Valentine said the FAA and Justice Department are already investigating Boeing, so the company needs to listen and show it’s serious about changing things.
“The three most important things in real estate are location, location, location. In air transportation, it’s safety, safety, and safety,” he said.
“At the end of the day, you can’t do well if people don’t think you’re safe. So there’s an incentive to have a good safety record.”
In addition to Mr. Calhoun’s resignation, Boeing will also lose Larry Kellner, chairman of the board, and Stan Diehl, the company’s head of commercial aircraft operations. Diehl will be replaced by Stephanie Pope, Boeing’s chief operating officer.
In a letter to employees Monday, Calhoun called the Alaska Airlines disaster “a turning point for Boeing.”
“The eyes of the world are on us,” he said. “We intend to fix what has gone wrong and put the company back on track for recovery and stability.”
Sean O’Keefe, the former chairman of European aircraft maker Airbus Group who now teaches at Syracuse University in New York, believes whoever is appointed to Boeing will listen to the industry’s concerns. He said he needed to be able to do it.
In particular, O’Keefe said they need to work with their airline customers, from Alaska Airlines to United Airlines, to ensure safety issues remain a focus in the coming months.
O’Keefe told Al Jazeera: “The company is going to sit down with Boeing and say, ‘Okay, let me know what we need to do to give us more confidence that we know what we’re doing here.’ I intend to cooperate with them,” he said.
“You need to be able to listen carefully and put together a comprehensive strategy that addresses perhaps several different voices.”
Boeing is currently being sued by dozens of passengers who were aboard Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on Jan. 5 en route from Portland International Airport to Ontario International Airport in San Bernardino County, California.
As a result of the incident, the FAA temporarily suspended some Boeing 737 Max 9 models from service. An initial investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board found that the bolts to secure the plug were not installed.
Both Boeing and Alaska Airlines deny wrongdoing.
Former Boeing whistleblower Ed Pearson said he was not surprised by the incident.
“The reason we weren’t surprised is because we’ve been watching this unfold for several years, and a number of production quality deficiencies have come to light over the last few years,” Pearson said. The head of the Aviation Safety Foundation told Al Jazeera.
Pearson, a former senior manager who first spoke out against Boeing after the fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019, added: “This is clearly a huge failure of leadership. And it was predictable.”
In addition to announcing Calhoun’s retirement, Boeing also announced that Steve Mollenkopf, the former CEO of tech company Qualcomm, has been named the company’s new chairman of the board and tasked with finding the company’s next CEO.
Shem Malmquist, a current Boeing pilot who teaches at the Florida Institute of Technology, said that while shareholders may instinctively resist the idea, Boeing’s decision to appoint engineers to top positions He said he was looking forward to it.
The last engineer to serve as CEO was Philip Condit, who held the position from 1996 to 2003. Outgoing CEO Calhoun has a degree in accounting.
“The company is in a very difficult situation at the moment, so shareholders will be looking for something that will bring stability,” Malmquist told Al Jazeera.
“The smart choice would be to pull someone from within the company, from the engineering department, rather than the marketing or finance department. Someone from the engineering department.”
