Boeing Sticks With CEO Calhoun as Potential Successor Exits

  • Finance chief Smith to leave in July in surprise departure
  • Shake-up raises questions on strategy amid aviation crisis

Dave Calhoun

Photographer: Christopher Goodney/Bloomberg
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Boeing Co. is sticking with Chief Executive Officer Dave Calhoun to guide the company through a long and uncertain recovery, while parting ways with a potential contender for his job.

The company’s board raised Calhoun’s retirement age to 70, citing the 64-year-old’s “substantial progress” in ending the 737 Max grounding and bringing the planemaker back from the Covid-19 pandemic. In another surprise, Boeing said Bloomberg TerminalTuesday that Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith will exit July 9 after guiding the company’s operations through years of turmoil.