Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun resigns

Boeing (BA) CEO Dave Calhoun will retire at the end of the year, the company announced Monday.

Calhoun's resignation comes as the plane maker faces a number of production and quality control issues this year, including one of its 737 MAX 9 planes operated by Alaska Airlines in January that lost a panel during a flight. This was done in the midst of dealing with the

Last week, Boeing Chief Financial Officer Brian West said the company is working to ramp up its production lines and expects to incur up to $4.5 billion in cash this quarter.

Boeing shares rose as much as 2.5% on the news. By Friday's close, the stock had fallen more than 27% since the beginning of the year.

The company also announced Monday that Larry Kellner, chairman of the board, will not stand for re-election at the company's next annual meeting. Steve Mollenkopf, the former CEO of Qualcomm and a member of Boeing's board since 2020, will replace Kellner and lead the company's search for its next CEO. Boeing also announced that Stan Diehl, currently CEO of its commercial aircraft division, will be stepping down.

PORTLAND, OREGON - JANUARY 7: This National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) document shows the fuselage of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 Boeing 737-9 MAX photographed on January 7, 2024 in Portland, Oregon. You can see the opening. Ten minutes after Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 took off from Portland, Oregon, en route to Ontario, California, on January 5, a door-sized section of the Boeing 737-9 MAX plane was blown off near the back. (Photo courtesy of NTSB via Getty Images) — This National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) document shows an opening in the fuselage of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, a Boeing 737-9 MAX, photographed on January 7, 2024 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo courtesy of NTSB via Getty Images) (Handouts via Getty Images)

Calhoun said in a letter to employees Monday that the Alaska Airlines disaster was “a turning point for Boeing.”

Calhoun continued, “The world's eyes are on us. We will emerge from this moment as a better company, building on all the learnings we have accumulated over the past several years as we helped rebuild Boeing.” I am confident that we will be able to do so,” he added.

Calhoun became Boeing's CEO in January 2020, as the company was dealing with the fallout from the crashes of two 737 MAX planes, one on a Lion Air flight in October 2018 and one on Ethiopian Airlines in March 2019. Appointed. A total of 346 people died in these crashes. .

Calhoun said in the letter that he had been considering the decision to resign “for some time.”