A person walks past an unpainted Boeing 737-8 MAX parked at the Renton Municipal Airport next to the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, on January 25, 2024.
Jason Redmond | AFP | Getty Images
boeing is replacing heads on its 737 Max program less than two months after a panel exploded on one of its jet models. alaska airlines The flight prompted the federal government to briefly ground the aircraft type and increase scrutiny of the aircraft manufacturer’s operations.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stan Diehl said in a memo to employees that Ed Clark, the company’s 737 program chief, is leaving the company. Katie Ringgold will become president and general manager of the program and the company’s Renton, Washington, location, Diehl said.
“As we continue to strengthen BCA’s focus on ensuring that every aircraft we deliver meets or exceeds all quality and safety requirements, I am announcing several leadership changes. Our customers demand and deserve more than that,” Deal said.
Diehl said in the memo that Boeing has appointed Elizabeth Rand to the newly created role of senior vice president of quality for its commercial aircraft division. Lund will continue to report to her, she added. Leadership changes are effective immediately.
“Ed leaves with my and our deepest gratitude for his many significant contributions over nearly 18 years of dedicated service to Boeing,” Diehl said.
The Jan. 5 accident on the Alaska Airlines flight is the latest crisis for Boeing, which has been trying to find its footing after 737 Max 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed all 346 people on board. .
It is also the latest and most serious in a series of quality defects in Boeing aircraft that have caused delays in deliveries to customers. A month after the Alaska Airlines flight, Boeing announced that a hole-pull mistake on some of its Max planes would delay deliveries of the planes to airlines.
CEOs from companies like Alaska Airlines and United Airlines have publicly voiced their dissatisfaction with Boeing as they wait for new planes to capitalize on the post-pandemic travel boom.
The eruption of a door plug from a nearly new 737 Max 9 used on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 has already led to increased scrutiny and regulation from federal regulators.
The bolts on the panel blocking the unused emergency exit appear to have not been reinstalled until it was handed over to Alaska Airlines last year, a preliminary investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board found.
The US Federal Aviation Administration has stepped up direct inspections of Boeing’s Max production line, and announced that the line will be prohibited from increasing production until the agency is satisfied with quality control.
As Boeing struggles to fix defects along its production line, rivals also airbus The company has stepped up production and delivery of new aircraft.
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