New CEO might be ‘perfect’ to stabilize Boeing, but may lack long-term leadership

Boeing stock jumped 3% on Monday, but there are mixed feelings about Boeing’s decision to oust CEO Dennis Muilenburg and replace him with the board’s current chairman, David Calhoun.

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg resigns

Aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia told KIRO Radio that a lot of Calhoun’s background is private equity and General Electric under Jack Welch.

“Those are skills that Boeing has not found to be in short supply” Aboulafia said. “In other words, he might be the perfect person to stabilize the situation and communicate with the outside world. In terms of the tool kit that he brings, it might not be ideal for long-term leadership of an engineering company.”

The board said a change in leadership was necessary to restore confidence in Boeing. The 737 Max was grounded worldwide in March after the second of two crashes of its jet, killing a combined total of 346 people.

However, it’s not enough for the families of those who died in the two flights. Ababu Amha, who lost his wife, a flight attendant, in the second crash, involving an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft, told the Associated Press, “They should further be held accountable for their actions because what they did was a crime.”

Muilenburg’s departure was long overdue, said Robert Clifford, a Chicago lawyer representing several people who are suing Boeing after losing relatives in the Ethiopia crash.

“Mr. Muilenburg and other Boeing leaders deliberately put the desire for a heightened stock price and profits over safety by allowing the 737 Max 8 to stay in service” after the first crash, involving a Lion Air flight, Clifford said. Boeing directors, he said, deserve no praise for ousting Muilenburg now.

Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) issued a statement on the resignation of Muilenburg, but said nothing specific of the ousted CEO. Rather he focused on the 737 Max.

“Nothing is more important than the safety of the traveling public,” Larsen said in a news release. “As Chair of the Aviation Subcommittee, I remain committed to the thorough oversight of the 737 MAX certification process and ensuring the aircraft’s safe return to service.”

Muilenburg was faulted for Boeing’s initial response to the first accident, in which he and the company seemed to suggest the pilots were at fault. Criticism of Muilenburg increased in recent months as news reports and congressional investigations disclosed internal documents that revealed concern within Boeing’s ranks about key design features on the Max, especially the new flight-control system.

In late October, lawmakers and relatives of passengers who died called on the CEO to quit.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. As did Elias Meseret in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and David Koenig in Dallas.

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