Boeing announced Wednesday that the head of the company's 737 Max program is leaving the company amid a board shakeup, following a mishap in January that has damaged the planemaker's reputation and cost it billions. of dollars in value.
Stanley A. Deal, executive vice president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, announced several changes in leadership in an email to employees on Wednesday, including the
replacement of Ed Clark
, head of the company's 737 Max program.
“Ed leaves with my, and our, deepest gratitude for his many significant contributions over nearly 18 years of dedicated service to Boeing,” Deal said.
Boeing 737 Max aircraft, at the company's factory in Renton, Washington.
on March 21, 2019. Lindsey Wasson / Reuters file
Katie Ringgold will succeed him as vice president and general manager of the 737 program and the company's Renton, Washington office.
On January 5, a fuselage panel of an Alaska Airlines plane made by Boeing broke off mid-flight over Portland, forcing an emergency landing.
The NTSB said the panel, which
covered the space for an emergency door
on the Max 9, left the Boeing factory without screws.
The incident led the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to temporarily ground all Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft operating in the United States and subsequently increase control over the production of Boeing aircraft.
Deal said the changes are part of the company's "increased focus on ensuring that every aircraft we deliver meets or exceeds all quality and safety requirements."
“Our customers demand, and deserve, nothing less than that,” he added.
The problems with Boeing's Max planes predate this year's mid-air incident.
In 2018 and 2019, two Max 8 airliners crashed as a result of problems with a flight stabilization system on the aircraft, claiming the lives of a total of 346 people.
Boeing 737 Max aircraft were subsequently grounded worldwide from March 2019 to November 2020.
Airlines around the world have been operating the Max 9, the version of the 737 Max that followed the Max 8, without any major incidents since it entered service in 2018. However, the FAA suspended all production expansion of the Boeing Max following the January incident.
Although Alaska and United Airlines, the two US airlines that operate Max 9s, have since returned them to service, Alaska CEO Ben Minicucci indicated in an interview with NBC News that his airline's future with Boeing Max aircraft, especially the new Max 10,
it was now uncertain
.
Scott Kirby, United's chief executive, echoed those doubts in separate comments.
Boeing Co., which is based in Arlington, Virginia, also named veteran executive Elizabeth Lund to the new role of senior vice president of BCA Quality, where she will lead the company's quality assurance and quality assurance efforts.
With information from
NBC News
and
The Associated Press