Despite serious allegations
Boeing boss Calhoun receives millions in severance pay
May 17, 2024, 9:46 p.m
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At the beginning of the year, part of the cabin wall of a Boeing tore out shortly after takeoff. After the incident, further blatant safety deficiencies became known at the aircraft manufacturer. Flight bans are the result. Nevertheless, alongside Boeing boss Calhoun, all directors receive hefty compensation.
The shareholders of the US aircraft manufacturer Boeing have re-elected outgoing CEO Dave Calhoun to the supervisory board and agreed to a severance payment worth millions for the Boeing boss. The company announced the preliminary results of the vote at its annual general meeting. Accordingly, all eleven Boeing directors were re-elected and a planned compensation package of 33 million dollars (around 30 million euros) for Calhoun was approved by the shareholders.
The annual general meeting took place against the background of serious allegations – including safety problems – against the aircraft manufacturer. After several safety incidents, Boeing announced at the end of March that its CEO Calhoun would resign at the end of the year and announced two further changes at the top of the company.
Consulting firm Glass Lewis had advised Boeing shareholders to vote against re-electing Calhoun and two other Boeing directors to the board. The ISS, the largest and most important organization for advising institutional investors in the USA, also recommended that shareholders reject the severance payment for Calhoun.
Supervisory Board Chairman Steve Mollenkopf assured a “careful process” in choosing Calhoun’s successor. It has to be someone who can lead Boeing through “the current and future challenges.” “The next months and years are of crucial importance for the group,” emphasized Mollenkopf. Boeing must regain the “confidence it has recently lost.”
171 aircraft are banned from flying
Recently, several technical breakdowns in Boeing aircraft caused uncertainty. At the beginning of the year, part of the cabin wall of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 broke off during the flight. The plane had to make an emergency landing. The FAA subsequently ordered a temporary ban on flights for 737 MAX aircraft in January. 171 aircraft were affected.
Calhoun then admitted oversights. He called the incident a “turning point.” But there were further breakdowns: at the beginning of March, a tire fell off on a United Airlines Boeing 777 shortly after departure from San Francisco. And last week, New Zealand authorities announced an investigation after several passengers were injured in severe turbulence on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight from Sydney to Auckland.
On Tuesday, the Justice Department in Washington said the company could be prosecuted again over the crashes of two 737 MAX planes that killed a total of 346 people in 2018 and 2019.