Boeing Ousts 737 MAX Chief Over January Mid-Air Safety Incident

Boeing said the chief of its 737 MAX program is leaving the company. This comes less than two months after the mid-air accident that led to the grounding of about 171 plane units.

According to Money Control, Stan Deal, the chief executive officer of Boeing Commercial Aviation (BCA), confirmed through a memo on Wednesday, Feb. 21, that Ed Clark is "leaving the program." His removal is primarily attributed to the incident involving Alaska Airlines' 737 MAX jet in early January, where a panel on the fuselage blew out while in the air.

"Ed departs with my, and our, deepest gratitude for his many significant contributions over nearly 18 years of dedicated service to Boeing," part of the memo reads.

New Appointments at Boeing

In the same memo, Deal mentioned that Boeing appointed Katie Ringgold as Clark's replacement. Ringgold is expected to have more responsibilities as she takes over, including overseeing Boeing's plant where the MAX planes are being assembled. The facility is located in the western state of Washington in the United States.

Aside from the new head of the BCA, the aircraft maker also named Elizabeth Lund to become the vice president for quality control in the commercial unit. This is said to be a newly created job role in the company.

Moreover, Mike Flemming has been promoted to succeed Lund as general manager for aircraft programs. Don Ruhmann will fill the development programs vice president post that Flemming will vacate.

Outgoing 737 Max Program's Head

CNN Business reported that Ed Clark has been with Boeing for 18 years. He handled many roles in the company, and only in March 2021 was he put in charge of the MAX program. He made his way up in the executive ranks at Boeing, and his previous roles include chief mechanic for 737 MAX planes and chief mechanic at some point.

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