^{This text initially appeared on Enterprise Insider.}

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun is stepping down.

Calhoun introduced in a memo to employees on Monday that this yr could be his final as CEO after 4 years at its helm.

Calhoun was appointed CEO of Boeing after the planemaker’s former CEO, Dennis Muilenburg, stepped down in December 2019 following two crashes of one other Max variant, the Max 8. The dual accidents killed 346 individuals.

He mentioned that he had been contemplating “for a while” when to depart the corporate.

Calhoun did not straight attribute his departure to the incident with Alaska Airways flight 1282 in January, when a Boeing 737 Max 9 misplaced a door plug in midair, however he described it as a “watershed” second.

After the blowout, the Federal Aviation Administration briefly grounded 171 Max 9 planes with the identical door plug and ordered Boeing to cease increasing its manufacturing of the 737 Max.

“The eyes of the world are on us,” Calhoun wrote within the memo, emphasizing the significance of humility, “full transparency,” and a dedication to security and high quality.

Calhoun additionally mentioned that Boeing Chair Larry Kellner would not be standing for reelection, with Steve Mollenkopf elected by the board as his substitute. Calhoun added that Stan Deal, the CEO of Boeing Industrial Airplanes, was retiring and would get replaced by Stephanie Pope, efficient instantly.

Calhoun turned the corporate’s CEO and president in January 2020. He’d joined Boeing’s board in 2009.

Learn Calhoun’s full memo to employees beneath.

^Staff,

^{As you all know, the Alaska Airways Flight 1282 accident was a watershed second for Boeing. We should proceed to answer this accident with humility and full transparency. We additionally should inculcate a complete dedication to security and high quality at each stage of our firm.}

^{The eyes of the world are on us, and I do know we’ll come via this second a greater firm, constructing on all of the learnings we accrued as we labored collectively to rebuild Boeing over the past variety of years.}

^{I wish to thank each one in all you for the way you could have stepped as much as this problem and for the work now underway to ensure we exhibit to all stakeholders that the Boeing of the longer term is all the pieces they need to anticipate it to be. Now we have been working collectively for the final 5 years to deal with a few of the most vital challenges our firm and trade have ever confronted in our 108-year historical past. I’m assured that the best way we’ve got confronted these challenges, and the way we’re responding to this particular second, is establishing requirements for future generations of staff and will likely be woven into the material of how we function for many years to return.}

^{It’s the way forward for our firm that’s the topic of my letter to you right this moment. I’ve been contemplating for a while, in dialogue with our board of administrators, the best time for a CEO transition at Boeing. I wish to share with you that I’ve determined this will likely be my final yr as CEO of our nice firm, and I’ve notified the board of that call.}

^{I initially agreed to tackle the position of CEO of Boeing on the board’s request, stepping down as board chair within the course of, due to the unprecedented circumstances the corporate was going through at the moment. It has been the best privilege of my life to serve in each roles and I’ll solely really feel the journey has been correctly accomplished once we end the job that we have to do. We’re going to repair what is not working, and we’re going to get our firm again on the monitor in direction of restoration and stability.}

^{My choice to step down as CEO on the finish of this yr is one the board has been ready for and can end in quite a few modifications at a administration and governance stage transferring ahead. My long-time companion in all issues Boeing, our Chair Larry Kellner, has suggested the board and me that he doesn’t intend to face for re-election at our upcoming Annual Assembly of Shareholders. The board has elected Steve Mollenkopf to succeed Larry as chair. Steve will lead the board course of of choosing my successor as CEO. Larry, too, had been contemplating the suitable second to show over the reins after greater than 4 years as chair and 13 years on our board, and concluded that the CEO choice course of ought to be led by a chair who will keep on the helm as a companion to the brand new CEO.}

^{I wish to categorical my deepest private due to Larry for his excellent management over the past variety of years, and I do know I communicate for everybody on the firm after I say, no person may have labored more durable or longer hours in dedication to his duties. Maybe first, among the many many legacies of his tenure, is profoundly strengthened governance at our firm, together with via his recruitment of a number of very good new board members, and his work with others on the board to determine our impartial standing board aerospace security committee. Larry is knowledgeable in each method and somebody to whom Boeing owes an important debt of gratitude.}

^{I additionally wish to thank Steve for his willingness to tackle the position as chair. Steve has had a protracted and terribly profitable profession with many years of expertise as each a CEO of Qualcomm and a board member of a number of essential public corporations. Since becoming a member of the Boeing board, his contribution has been extraordinarily worthwhile and his skilled background as an engineer will serve him and the corporate effectively on this new position. I stay up for working with him for the rest of this yr to make sure a easy transition.}

^{Along with these modifications, Boeing Industrial Airplanes President and Chief Government Officer Stan Deal will retire from the corporate and Stephanie Pope will lead our BCA enterprise, efficient right this moment. I wish to thank Stan for his many contributions and dedication since first becoming a member of our ranks 38 years in the past, and for his tireless service as our BCA chief throughout an uncommonly troublesome interval for our firm and for our trade.}

^{I additionally wish to thank Stephanie for taking over this essential position. With almost 30 years of expertise at Boeing, together with her profitable tenure main our international providers enterprise, Stephanie is aware of our firm inside and outside and has a confirmed monitor file of very good management, together with an innate expertise for listening and responding to our individuals. Stephanie is a third-generation Boeing worker. She is deeply dedicated to our firm, to our staff and to our shared future; and he or she is the proper particular person to tackle the management of our business airplanes enterprise at this second.}

^{As we start this era of transition, I wish to guarantee you, we’ll stay squarely centered on finishing the work we’ve got carried out collectively to return our firm to stability after the extraordinary challenges of the previous 5 years, with security and high quality on the forefront of all the pieces that we do.}

^Thanks,

^Dave