NEW YORK (AP) — Boeing keeps hitting more and more turbulence.
The American plane maker has been under intense pressure since early January, when a panel blew off a brand-new Alaska Airlines 737 Max midflight. That’s spotlighted a lengthy series of safety and manufacturing problems that have piled up for Boeing over the years — including two devastating crashes that also involved Max jets.
Leadership shakeups have arrived amid this turmoil, too. On Monday, Boeing announced that CEO David Calhoun would be stepping down from his post at the end of the year as part of broader management changes.
“The eyes of the world are on us,” Calhoun wrote to a note to employees, adding that the decision to leave was his and that he believed Boeing “will come through this moment a better company.” Calhoun became CEO in 2020, after his predecessor was fired following the deadly 2018 and 2019 Max crashes.
Beyond newer Max jets, Boeing been in the news for mishaps arising from some its older models, including a Delta Air Lines-operated 757 jet losing a nose wheel during takeoff in January and a post-flight inspection that revealed a missing panel on a 737-800 flown by United Airlines earlier this month. Those incidents spotlight issues with the planes’ maintenance, for which the airlines are responsible.