Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun Under Increasing Pressure

Boeing's CEO is facing significant pressure in his role at the head of the aerospace company following a series of troubling and headline-making episodes this month.

Dave Calhoun faced questions from senators on Wednesday after a door-panel blowout on a 737 Max 9 flying over Oregon on January 5 led to planes being grounded; a softball-sized hole on a Boeing 747 that caught fire on January 19; and a Boeing 757 plane losing a wheel as it prepared to take off in Atlanta the following day.

Boeing, a U.S. military contractor employing more than 136,000 Americans, is in a tight spot.

"While I care about the economy and the employees, their jobs are only long term if Boeing and their supply chain get their act together and Americans know it's safe to fly," Democratic Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas said ahead of Wednesday's private meeting in Washington, D.C.

Senator Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, said "root causes of these safety lapses" would be explored, and Boeing's leadership needed to emphasize a culture "that puts safety ahead of profits."

Calhoun, meanwhile, moved to reassure passengers and lawmakers, telling reporters: "We don't put airplanes in the air that we don't have 100 percent confidence in."

Boeing's Problems Are Not New

Calhoun joined Boeing under a cloud. His predecessor, Dennis Muilenburg, was replaced in 2019 after two fatal crashes of the new 737 Max led to the grounding of the aircraft by a number of aviation authorities across the world.

Boeing initially asked the FAA to keep the aircraft in the air, saying it believed the 737 Max to be safe, but later admitted it was wrong as safety problems became clearer.

At the time, Boeing said the "change in leadership was necessary to restore confidence in the company moving forward as it works to repair relationships with regulators, customers, and all other stakeholders."

Now it is Calhoun facing the storm.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is expected to soon finalize its investigation into the midair door-panel blowout with more than 170 on board. Several passengers reported injuries and trauma, but no one was killed.

"It's obvious somebody screwed up," Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas told Newsweek in an emailed statement on Wednesday. "This investigation needs to find out where the mistake was, what caused this accident, and critically what needs to be done to make sure it doesn't happen again with tragic consequences."

Senator Mark Warner told reporters he did have confidence in Calhoun, but that the company needed a break with the past on the issue of transparency.

"Now listen, the Boeing of the past, that hid the ball after the Max disaster, it's got to be made clear that every person in leadership then is no longer with the company," he said on January 24. "I'm obviously concerned about what happened on AlaskaAir. I think I have seen a different approach in terms of transparency."

Appeasing the FAA

Calhoun and Boeing will be under review after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) introduced a process to get the Max 9s back into the air.

Flights could resume as early as Friday after a maintenance process checking exit door plugs, bolts and other parts of the aircraft is carried out.

The FAA said it has has "inspectors on the ground" at Boeing production lines after the Alaska incident and has not allowed Boeing to resume production of Max 9s.

"The exhaustive, enhanced review our team completed after several weeks of information gathering gives me and the FAA confidence to proceed to the inspection and maintenance phase," a statement by FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said.

Quality control during Boeing's production of the Max 9s will be monitored before the company's planned production expansion can continue.

"This won't be back to business as usual for Boeing," Whitaker warned.

Hassan Shahidi, president and CEO of Flight Safety Foundation, told Newsweek it is "imperative that Boeing evaluates its current inspection and quality management processes" to "understand what went wrong on the Max 9 door plug and put in place more stringent and resilient quality assurance systems of inspections and thorough checks at every stage of the manufacturing process, not just within Boeing but also at its suppliers."

Navigating the safety process could be vital for Calhoun in showing that Boeing is turning a corner in addressing safety concerns, but much of this could rely on satisfying the FAA and the results of the NTSB process.

The task facing Calhoun and Boeing is one of "quality assurance practices," Shahidi added.

"Boeing employs highly skilled technicians and engineers and has a long-standing record for engineering excellence," he said. "It must now take on a comprehensive approach to revamping its quality processes and compliance with regulatory standards which will enable its engineers and technicians to do what they do best."

Boeing told Newsweek: "We continue to communicate transparently with Congress, the FAA and the NTSB. We are focused on taking action to strengthen quality and safety across Boeing."

Angry Airlines and Falling Stock Price

Calhoun also has the company finances to think about.

Boeing is one of two major suppliers that make up the vast majority of market share in commercial aviation, and airlines have expressed concern about the impact on its bottom line.

Company stock fell since the January 5 midair blowout until January 16 and still not recovered to its previous levels.

Boeing stock on the New York Stock Exchange was worth $249 a share on January 5 but fell to $200.52 on January 16. Currently, according to data from MarketWatch, shares are worth $202.34, about $10 less than late January last year.

Concerned shareholders might turn their attention toward the head of Boeing if its stock continues to fall.

Wary Boeing customers could also be a source of problems. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said future fleet plans without Boeing's Max 10 were being considered.

"I think the Max 9 grounding is probably the straw that broke the camel's back for us," Kirby told CNBC.

Southwest Airlines, meanwhile, said the Max 7 would be removed from its 2024 fleet plans because of certification delays.

A total of 171 Max 9s were grounded by the FAA, of which 79 are owned by United, which said it expects to lose money in the first quarter of 2024.

Alaska Airlines inspected its nine Max 9s after the in-flight incident and said it had found "many" loose bolts. CEO Ben Minicucci told NBC News that he was "angry" and "frustrated and disappointed."

He added: "My demand on Boeing is what are they going to do to improve their quality programs in-house."

On January 24, a Boeing 757 Delta Air Lines plane was preparing to take off in Atlanta when it lost a nose wheel. While it is not clear who is responsible—Boeing halted production of the 757 in 2004 and Delta is in charge of maintaining its aircraft—it is unlikely to help the perception of Boeing.

Delta told Newsweek that an investigation into the incident was ongoing. Boeing reiterated that deliveries of the 757 ended in 2004.

Despite the worrisome month, external criticism might not even prove Calhoun's biggest threat.

Stephanie Pope joined Boeing as chief operating officer on January 1, which the Financial Times said was "setting her up as Boeing's potential next chief executive."

Boeing raised its mandatory retirement age of 65 to 70 in 2021, the year Calhoun turned 64.

Update, 1/25/24, 1:30 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information and comment.