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After a near-disaster and a series of safety defects in aircraft production, Boeing is facing a change in leadership. Dave Calhoun is leaving the company by the end of the year, the US aircraft manufacturer announced on Monday. The 66-year-old had recently come under pressure over his handling of the incident on January 5th, when a fuselage part of an almost new 737 Max 9 broke off in flight. "The decision to resign was entirely my decision," Calhoun told CNBC. He will help find a successor.

In addition to Calhoun, Chairman of the Board of Directors Larry Kellner and the head of the commercial aircraft division, Stan Deal, are also resigning. While Kellner will no longer stand for election at this year's Annual General Meeting, Deal will hand over his position to Stephanie Pope with immediate effect. The manager only took over management of day-to-day business at Boeing at the beginning of the year. When her promotion was announced in December, she was already considered a possible successor to Calhoun at the top of the company.

With the reshuffles, Boeing is responding to massive criticism from airlines about its handling of the latest safety problems with the best-selling 737 Max. The resignation announcement was received positively on the stock market: shares temporarily rose by almost four percent in pre-market trading.

Boeing is under enormous pressure from an investigation by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It applies to the assembly lines at a Boeing factory near Seattle, where the company builds aircraft such as Alaska Airlines' 737 Max. One of these aircraft had a door panel torn out of its holder shortly after take-off on January 5th. The initial investigation suggests that following repair work at the Boeing factory, screws that hold the panel in place had not been installed.

The plane was able to return safely to the airport in Portland, Oregon, with only minor injuries. However, during inspections, loose parts and loose screws were also discovered on other machines, which raised doubts about the design and approval process of the Boeing blockbuster. In this context, the focus has come to the fuselage supplier Spirit AeroSystems, which Boeing now wants to take over again. Calhoun said he hopes a conclusion will come soon.

"For years we have prioritized rapid aircraft production over quality, and that must now change," said Boeing CFO Brian West. The security deficiencies scare off customers and are now leaving deep marks on the company's balance sheet. Most recently, European rival Airbus was able to collect orders for 65 aircraft from two important Boeing customers in Asia.

Calhoun is considered an experienced crisis manager. He took over the top position at Boeing in 2020. At that time, he was supposed to bring the aircraft manufacturer back into calmer waters after the crash of two aircraft with more than 300 deaths and the subsequent grounding of the 737 Max.

dab/mik/Reuters/dpa