Boeing is adjusting its senior personnel structure, and CEO Dave Calhoun announced on Monday that he will resign before the end of the year. This also makes the market curious about potential successors.
According to many sources, Boeing's board of directors plans to find a "big shot" to take over this struggling company. Industry executives and analysts further pointed out that Boeing will tend to hire an external manager to restructure the situation.
Since a cabin door explosion occurred during flight on a Boeing 737 Max aircraft in January, Boeing has been plagued by quality issues and its crisis is constantly escalating. This also makes the work of the new CEO extremely complex, including but not limited to reforming the company's safety culture, addressing quality issues, handling tense relationships with customers, and so on.
And three months ago, Boeing appointed Stephanie Pope, who had been working at Boeing for over thirty years, as its Chief Operating Officer, seemingly revealing the intention of having her take over as CEO. But on Monday, Pope was appointed as the head of Boeing's commercial aircraft division, overseeing the operations of the 737 Max.
Analysts believe that, at least for now, the result of this appointment is that Pope is unlikely to win the position of Boeing CEO again, indicating an increased likelihood of outsiders entering.
Richard Aboulafia, Managing Director of AeroDynamic Consulting, explained that Pope is highly respected in the industry, but she is a finance professional. It may be more appropriate to have an engineer or project manager to replace Calhoun, but Pope is also a good choice.
Drumming and Flower Transmission
Many investors have turned their attention to Larry Culp, the CEO of General Electric, believing that he possesses all the halos that can lift Boeing out of its predicament. Culp was decisive and resolute enough to successfully split General Electric into three listed companies, injecting new vitality into the old brand of General Electric.
But Culp himself, who was named, stated that he is fully focused on General Electric's business and will continue to lead General Electric Aerospace Company in expanding its engine manufacturing business. He is willing to continue providing more services to his partner Boeing, but not including changing his own company.
Another target is Pat Shanahan, a former Boeing executive who previously served as Acting Defense Secretary for the Trump administration and is currently serving as the head of Spirit Airlines.
Spirit was a subsidiary of Boeing before 2005 and is now in talks with Boeing about mergers and acquisitions. Once Boeing ultimately acquires Spirit, Shanahan's position may also soar, directly transitioning from being the head of a subsidiary to becoming a powerful figure in the parent company.
Industry insider Adam Pilarski is very optimistic about Shanahan, believing that he is a perfect third party who knows both Boeing and the people who produce airplanes within Boeing. But a former executive who had worked with Shanahan at Boeing pointed out that Shanahan may not want to be tied onto the ship by Boeing because it is clearly an endurance race.
Spirit also emphasizes that Shanahan's only and primary task at present is to establish a safety culture at Spirit.
Other candidates to join the discussion include former Boeing CFO Greg Smith, who was forced out by Calhoun, and Boeing board member David Gitlin. But these candidates have shown silence towards the market's blue eyes, making it difficult to determine their attitude.
Ray Gaforth, the executive director of an important union under Boeing, emphasized that Boeing's next leader should be an engineer. Boeing has flourished under the leadership of engineers for decades, but has repeatedly encountered difficulties in recent years, clearly pointing out the problem.