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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Boeing CEO faces epic challenge in new job

Duration: 01:51s 0 shares 1 views

Boeing CEO faces epic challenge in new job
Boeing CEO faces epic challenge in new job

Boeing's new CEO David Calhoun assumed the top job on Monday as the planemaker battles to recover a crisis caused by two fatal crashes of the 737 MAX planes in five months.

Conway G.

Gittens takes a look at the challenges ahead.

It's the first official day for Boeing's new CEO and he is facing the gargantuan task of convincing safety regulators to allow the 737 MAX back up in the air and regaining trust from a flying public scared to get back on the plane.

David Calhoun takes over Monday from ousted CEO Dennis Muilenberg with the airplane giant still in crisis mode after two fatal crashes in five months killed 346 people.

Not only did that result in the plane being grounded for nearly a year, production has been halted, forcing layoffs at a major Boeing supplier - Spirit AeroSystems. Calhoun, an expert in handling corporate crises after stints at General Electric and Caterpillar, will have his hands full.

There is still no date for the 737 MAX to resume flying.

Last week, the company made an about face and recommended pilots have hands-on training with a flight simulator before flying the plane again.

And he also has to deal with an perception that management was too focused on cost-controls that led to flaws in the 737 MAX in the first place.

A series of damaging internal emails were released by Boeing last week, in which one employee said the plane was "designed by clowns who in turn are supervised by monkeys." A source close to Calhoun told Reuters he wants to "get rid of the culture of arrogance" that led to that kind of feeling among Boeing's rank and file.

There are also financial pressure for Calhoun to deal with.

Boeing has estimated the cost of grounding the MAX at more than $9 billion so far and that number is expected to be higher when Calhoun provides an update along with quarterly results later this month.

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