Mar 6, 2020 - Economy
New Boeing CEO criticizes predecessor, looks to future
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David Calhoun. Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Boeing's new CEO David Calhoun criticized his predecessor Dennis Muilenburg for failing to get the company back on track following two deadly 737 Max crashes, during an interview with The New York Times.
"I'll never be able to judge what motivated Dennis, whether it was a stock price that was going to continue to go up and up, or whether it was just beating the other guy to the next rate increase. If anybody ran over the rainbow for the pot of gold on stock, it would have been him."— Boeing CEO David Calhoun
What Calhoun is saying:
- Calhoun's third day as CEO included a meeting with President Trump. The Boeing chief told the Times that Trump said he liked Muilenburg but believed it was time for a change of leadership, and that Trump hopes Boeing is investing everything it has to get the grounded 737 Max in the air.
- Calhoun said Muilenburg's optimism on getting the 737 Max flying again made the Federal Aviation Administration feel "like they were being pushed into a timeline...(the) regulator was never there alongside of us, but apparently our team didn't quite come to grips with that."
- Calhoun said the 737 Max could be approved sometime this summer.
What's next for Boeing: Calhoun acknowledges that getting Boeing back to the top of its game will take years. He said he is focused on protecting engineers from business pressure, and he's not done restructuring the company's leadership, he told the Times.
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