Boeing’s jetliner chief steps down as 737 Max crisis deepens

Boeing said Kevin McAllister is stepping down as head of its jetliner division after less than three years amid a crisis engulfing the 737 Max and production snarls with other planes. Stan Deal, the head of Boeing’s global services business, will replace McAllister, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. McAllister, who joined Boeing shortly before the Max’s debut, is the first to depart from Boeing’s upper echelons since two deadly crashes prompted a worldwide grounding that began in March.
The exit marks the second jolt to Boeing management this month, after Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg was stripped of the chairman’s job October 11.
The flying ban has cost Boeing more than $8bn (around R117bn), and the Max isn’t expected to carry passengers until next year. Meanwhile, the company is due to report financial results on Wednesday, and Muilenburg is slated to testify before Congress next week.
"The drumbeat for major executive changes is only getting louder," said Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst at Teal Group. As for McAllister’s ouster, "I’m not sure what it accomplishes, but at least Stan Deal is a really great choice."
Boeing rose 1.8% to $337 at the close in New York. The shares have tumbled 20% since an Ethiopian jetliner plunged into a field on March 10, the worst performance on the 30-member Dow Jones Industrial Average.
With Deal, Boeing is tapping an executive with deep sales and supplier-management experience to lead the company’s largest business amid one of the biggest crises in its 103-year history. He will be replaced at Boeing’s services division by Ted Colbert. Vishwa Uddanwadiker was named as Boeing’s interim chief information officer, replacing Colbert.