Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun announced on Monday that he will step down at the end of the year in a major shakeup brought on by a safety crisis at the embattled company.
Board chair Larry Kellner told the company he does not plan to stand for re-election. Steve Mollenkopf has been appointed the new chair of the board.
Boeing also announced on Monday that Stan Deal, president and CEO of its commercial airplanes unit, is retiring from the company. Stephanie Pope is now leading the division.
Calhoun has been under pressure since a panel blew off on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane while it was flying 16,000 feet over Portland, Oregon, on January 5.
Pilots were able to land the Alaska Airlines flight safely, and none of the 171 passengers and six crew members were seriously injured. Investigators say it appears that four bolts used to help secure the panel were missing after the plane was worked on at a Boeing factory in Renton, Washington.
The incident has raised scrutiny of Boeing to its highest level since two crashes of Boeing 737 MAX jets in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.
In a message to employees on Monday, Calhoun said the Alaska Airlines incident in January was "a watershed moment" for the company.
"We must continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency," he said. "We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company."
He added: "As we begin this period of transition, I want to assure you, 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, with safety and quality at the forefront of everything that we do."
His announcement comes after it was reported that the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) six-week audit of Boeing's 737 MAX production process failed 33 of 89 tests.
Boeing failed a check that dealt with the component that blew off the Alaska Airlines jet, The New York Times reported earlier in March.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating Boeing in response to the Alaska Airlines incident.
Meanwhile, reports say the U.S. Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation. The investigation will assist the department's review of whether Boeing complied with a previous settlement that resolved a federal investigation following the two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Update 3/25/24, 9:30 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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