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Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun to Step Down in Wake of 737 MAX Struggles

37 points by Vaslo 3y ago

allears 3y ago
As if shuffling the C-suite will fix Boeing's problems.
- toomuchtodo 3y ago
  Culture comes from the top, and is the place to start purging when the org has rotted.
  - consp 3y ago
    The board is still mostly the same, nothing will change.
    - toomuchtodo 3y ago
      C suite reports to the board, board reports to investors. This appears to be what shareholders and the US gov (which hasn't nationalized Boeing yet) have the appetite for at the moment. More to come? Depends on how much worse things get or how slowly they get better. First, renovate. If renovation does not succeed, burn the house down and rebuild.
    - laweijfmvo 3y ago
      The board has to allow the new CEO to influence change, at the potential expense of a (short-term?) hit to their portfolios. We'll see how it goes!
  - krainboltgreene 3y ago
    This only makes sense if you believe a capitalist economy can produce anything different. These guys acted exactly as expected of them.
  - Vox_Leone 3y ago
    >Culture comes from the top, and is the place to start purging when the org has rotted. Yes, and Look! A real engineer! God bless [and I mean it].
    - toomuchtodo 3y ago
      > Yes, and Look! A real engineer! God bless [and I mean it]. Genuinely appreciate the kind words, but I am not an engineer. I respect the craft and practitioners, and am wise enough to know that success is aggressively enabling engineering talent and then getting out of the way. Again, this is cultural; curating and nurturing this culture takes time, energy, and is never ending.
- reaperman 3y ago
  I think most people would agree it is one of the necessary steps.
  - willmadden 3y ago
    It's the board and investors, and it's not just a Boeing problem.
    - reaperman 3y ago
      Are there any publicly traded companies that you feel are doing a great job? It would be interesting to see what differences there are in the composition of major investors. My understanding was that for most S&P500 companies, the index funds like Vanguard generally hold majority voting shares (exceptions being like Facebook, where unusual amounts of voting stock are retained by the founder). So if the problem was “investors” I’d imagine that you’d be unable to find any S&P500 company that people thought was doing a good job.
      - willmadden 3y ago
        >So if the problem was “investors” I’d imagine that you’d be unable to find any S&P500 company that people thought was doing a good job. The definition of "good job" depends on who you ask.
- ssgodderidge 3y ago
  A shuffling of the C-suite at Microsoft (eventually) led to it becoming the world’s most valuable company. Certainly not a guarantee, but it’s a step in the process
rob74 3y ago
2 hours ago, 117+ comments: Boeing CEO Calhoun to step down at end of 2024 (reuters.com) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39815408 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39815408
fred_is_fred 3y ago
Killing lots of people in two major crashes and 3 years later still failing to properly manufacture planes goes far beyond "struggles".
- hosh 3y ago
  This disaster culminated from changes in the Boeing culture that was years in the making, so I very much it would be an easy fix. They would have to prioritize engineering excellence back over profits, but I doubt the current executives even know what that looks like. At the very least, they’d have to move their HQ back to Seattle and sell off or lease their skyscraper they built in Chicago so that the leadership can ignore the engineers.
dheera 3y ago
The chair of the SEC should step down for pushing a company like Boeing to keep giving quarterly earnings reports. Pursuing stock value is the ultimate root of all the evil in Boeing. They should allow them to provide quarterly safety reports instead. We as a society should value companies like Boeing based on safety, not based on earnings. They should be exempt from capitalism and just focus on transporting people alive.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
breakingrules 3y ago
[dead]
hnthrowaway0328 3y ago
Well, a pat on the shoulder and some vacations to connect with family, and onto the next one, right?
ChrisArchitect 3y ago
[dupe] Official release: https://boeing.mediaroom.com/2024-03-25-Boeing-Announces-Board-and-Management-Changes https://boeing.mediaroom.com/2024-03-25-Boeing-Announces-Boa... More discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39815408 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39815408

37 points by Vaslo 3y ago

allears 3y ago

As if shuffling the C-suite will fix Boeing's problems.

toomuchtodo 3y ago
Culture comes from the top, and is the place to start purging when the org has rotted.
- consp 3y ago
  The board is still mostly the same, nothing will change.
  - toomuchtodo 3y ago
    C suite reports to the board, board reports to investors. This appears to be what shareholders and the US gov (which hasn't nationalized Boeing yet) have the appetite for at the moment. More to come? Depends on how much worse things get or how slowly they get better. First, renovate. If renovation does not succeed, burn the house down and rebuild.
  - laweijfmvo 3y ago
    The board has to allow the new CEO to influence change, at the potential expense of a (short-term?) hit to their portfolios. We'll see how it goes!
- krainboltgreene 3y ago
  This only makes sense if you believe a capitalist economy can produce anything different. These guys acted exactly as expected of them.
- Vox_Leone 3y ago
  >Culture comes from the top, and is the place to start purging when the org has rotted. Yes, and Look! A real engineer! God bless [and I mean it].
  - toomuchtodo 3y ago
    > Yes, and Look! A real engineer! God bless [and I mean it]. Genuinely appreciate the kind words, but I am not an engineer. I respect the craft and practitioners, and am wise enough to know that success is aggressively enabling engineering talent and then getting out of the way. Again, this is cultural; curating and nurturing this culture takes time, energy, and is never ending.
reaperman 3y ago
I think most people would agree it is one of the necessary steps.
- willmadden 3y ago
  It's the board and investors, and it's not just a Boeing problem.
  - reaperman 3y ago
    Are there any publicly traded companies that you feel are doing a great job? It would be interesting to see what differences there are in the composition of major investors. My understanding was that for most S&P500 companies, the index funds like Vanguard generally hold majority voting shares (exceptions being like Facebook, where unusual amounts of voting stock are retained by the founder). So if the problem was “investors” I’d imagine that you’d be unable to find any S&P500 company that people thought was doing a good job.
    - willmadden 3y ago
      >So if the problem was “investors” I’d imagine that you’d be unable to find any S&P500 company that people thought was doing a good job. The definition of "good job" depends on who you ask.
ssgodderidge 3y ago
A shuffling of the C-suite at Microsoft (eventually) led to it becoming the world’s most valuable company. Certainly not a guarantee, but it’s a step in the process

rob74 3y ago

2 hours ago, 117+ comments: Boeing CEO Calhoun to step down at end of 2024 (reuters.com) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39815408 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39815408

fred_is_fred 3y ago

Killing lots of people in two major crashes and 3 years later still failing to properly manufacture planes goes far beyond "struggles".

hosh 3y ago
This disaster culminated from changes in the Boeing culture that was years in the making, so I very much it would be an easy fix. They would have to prioritize engineering excellence back over profits, but I doubt the current executives even know what that looks like. At the very least, they’d have to move their HQ back to Seattle and sell off or lease their skyscraper they built in Chicago so that the leadership can ignore the engineers.

dheera 3y ago

The chair of the SEC should step down for pushing a company like Boeing to keep giving quarterly earnings reports. Pursuing stock value is the ultimate root of all the evil in Boeing. They should allow them to provide quarterly safety reports instead. We as a society should value companies like Boeing based on safety, not based on earnings. They should be exempt from capitalism and just focus on transporting people alive.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

breakingrules 3y ago

[dead]

hnthrowaway0328 3y ago

Well, a pat on the shoulder and some vacations to connect with family, and onto the next one, right?

ChrisArchitect 3y ago

[dupe] Official release: https://boeing.mediaroom.com/2024-03-25-Boeing-Announces-Board-and-Management-Changes https://boeing.mediaroom.com/2024-03-25-Boeing-Announces-Boa... More discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39815408 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39815408