After several terrifying mishaps on Boeing flights that have made headlines over the past few months, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will resign from his post at the end of year, according to the New York Post. The president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Stan Deal, is stepping down from his position immediately and the company’s chairman, Larry Kellner, is also stepping from his position on the board of directors in May. The developments come after CEO’S from major airlines requested a meeting with Boeing amid concerns about the numerous problems the planes have had, leaving everyone unsettled.
Calhoun reportedly encouraged the meetings to take place and acknowledged the “mistake” that was made in reference to a blowout at 16,000 feet that caused an emergency landing when a rear door plug came loose midair on an Alaskan Airlines flight. The serious issue resulted in the cancellation of thousands of flights for both Alaska and United Airlines. The Post reports, “preliminary investigations found that loose bolts that needed tightening may have been to blame for the incident.”
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) found earlier this month in an investigation of the Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems that the agency was using hotel key cards and liquid dish soap as “makeshift tools to test compliance.” The Post reports, “the agency said that it ‘found multiple instances where the companies allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements.’”
After the investigation, the head of the NTSB, Jennifer Homendy, told Congress that Boeing had not fully cooperated with the investigation. The NTSB has said that it will hold an investigative hearing on Boeing in August.
The whistle-blower for the concerns at Boeing, John Barnett, who was an employee at the company’s South Carolina plant, was found dead due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound shortly after the investigation, according to authorities. Barnett filed the complaint in court in 2017.