--- title: "Boeing CEO Resigning Amid Disintegrating Planes Scandal" description: "David Calhoun, CEO of the deeply embattled Boeing, is reportedly set to resign later this year. It should come as no surprise." date: "2024-03-25" modified: "2024-03-25" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/boeing-ceo-resigning-amid-scandal" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Boeing" - "Space" tags: - "aerospace companies" - "airplanes" - "boeing" - "the digest" --- # Boeing CEO Resigning Amid Disintegrating Planes Scandal ![David Calhoun, CEO of the deeply embattled Boeing, is reportedly set to resign later this year. It should come as no surprise.]() *\Image: Aaron Schwartz / NurPhoto via Getty / Futurism\* ## Golden Parachute *The New York Times* [reports that]() David Calhoun, the CEO of the deeply embattled aerospace giant Boeing, is set to resign later this year. Calhoun's promised departure was declared this morning in a memo to company staffers and comes amid the aerospace company's latest [aircraft safety crisis](), kicked off by a [terrifying moment]() in early January in which a door of a [brand-new Boeing 737 Max]() was ripped out of an Alaskan Airlines plane mid-flight. In the months since that incident, an alarmingly long list of Boeing quality lapses — cracks in cockpit windshields, [tires falling off planes mid-air](), passengers [spotting missing wing parts](), and more — has emerged. As a result, Boeing has been [accused]() of cutting manufacturing costs by outsourcing parts of its assembly process to questionable contractors, a practice that arguably placed stockholder value above aircraft quality, and thus passenger safety. Now, as public and federal scrutiny only continues to mount, it seems that the pressure was too much for Calhoun. "The eyes of the world are on us," Calhoun told Boeing employees in the Monday memo, according to the *NYT*, "and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years." ## See Ya In Calhoun's memo, he reportedly noted that the Alaskan Airlines scandal was a "watershed moment for Boeing." Which, [in the court of public opinion](), feels true. But Boeing's safety issues aren't new. Calhoun himself was [elevated to the CEO role]() in 2020 following the departure of former CEO Dennis Muilenburg, whose tenure oversaw [devastating Boeing crashes in 2018 and 2019]() that collectively took the lives of 346 people. And [in 2017](), before either of these horrifying crashes, a [whistleblower]() — who, in a bizarre and gruesome turn, was earlier this month [found dead]() in his vehicle due to an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound — came forward to sound the alarm bells about Boeing's allegedly negligent manufacturing process. Speaking of alleged corporate negligence: Calhoun's departure comes just a few short weeks after the [*NYT* reported]() that the federal government was launching a criminal investigation into the Alaskan Airlines incident. Anyway. Considering Boeing's oligopolistic chokehold on the aviation market, let's hope that new leadership might — this time — actually lead to a culture change. In the meantime, though, it's safe to say that the public likely won't be on Calhoun's side as he makes his slow exit. "Don't let the door hit ya on the — never mind," netizen Chris Stellar [wrote in a Bluesky post]() earlier today, "there's no door." **More on Boeing:** [*Pilot Lost Control of Boeing Jet Because Gauges “went Blank," Causing Nosedive*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()