This photo taken on June 19, 2023 shows a demonstration of the Boeing 777X (down) and 737-10 during the 54th International Paris Air Show held at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France. [Photo/Xinhua]
Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun on Monday announced his decision to step down at the end of this year.
He will continue to lead Boeing through the year to complete the critical work underway to stabilize and position the company for the future, Boeing said in an announcement.
Board Chair Larry Kellner has informed the board that he does not intend to stand for re-election at the upcoming annual shareholder meeting, it added.
The board has elected Steve Mollenkopf to succeed Kellner as independent board chair. In this role, Mollenkopf will lead the board's process of selecting Boeing's next CEO.
In addition to these changes, Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) President and CEO Stan Deal will retire from the company and Stephanie Pope has been appointed to lead BCA as new president and CEO, according to the announcement.
"It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve Boeing," said Calhoun in a letter to employees. "The eyes of the world are on us... We will remain squarely focused on completing the work we have done together to return our company to stability after the extraordinary challenges of the past five years."
"Steve is the ideal next leader to take on the role of board chair, and it is important that the CEO selection process be led by a new chair who will stay at the helm as a partner to the new CEO," said Kellner.
Mollenkopf has served on the board of directors since 2020. He was previously CEO of Qualcomm.
Pope has been serving as chief operating officer of Boeing since January of this year. Previously, she was president and chief executive officer of Boeing Global Services.
Boeing has encountered many quality and safety concerns for years with its aircraft, resulting in an extended grounding of certain planes and delivery suspensions.
The recent one took place in mid-March, when a Boeing 737-800 plane of United Airlines flying from San Francisco was found to have a missing panel after landing safely at its scheduled destination in southern Oregon, said the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on March 15.