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Boeing replaces senior executive in charge of 737 Max after two fatal crashes

Kevin McAllister was in charge of the Max programme

Wednesday 23 October 2019 12:37 BST

Boeing 737 Max planes are parked on Boeing property in Seattle in August (Getty)

Boeing has replaced the senior executive in charge of the doomed 737 Max plane.

The aircraft manufacturer has replaced president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Kevin McAllister, who was in charge of the Boeing 737 Max programme.

Mr McAllister is the most senior executive to leave the company since the jet was grounded in March.

The worldwide fleet of Max jets was grounded following two fatal crashes that claimed the lives of 346 people.

The Manoeuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) was later blamed for the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes.

Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures

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1/9Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures

Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures

This picture taken on March 11, 2019, shows debris of the crashed airplane of Ethiopia Airlines, near Bishoftu, a town some 60 kilometres southeast of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. - An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 crashed on March 10 morning en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi with 149 passengers and eight crew believed to be on board, Ethiopian Airlines said. (Photo by Michael TEWELDE / AFP)MICHAEL TEWELDE/AFP/Getty Images

AFP/Getty Images

Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures

Family members mourn the victims at the crash site of the Ethiopian Airlines operated Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, at Hama Quntushele village in the Oromia region, on March 13, 2019. - A Nairobi-bound Ethiopian Airlines Boeing crashed minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa on March 10, 2019, killing all eight crew and 149 passengers on board, including tourists, business travellers, and "at least a dozen" UN staff. Families of the victims were taken to the remote site on March 13, 2019, where the plane smashed into a field with 157 passengers and crew from 35 countries, leaving a deep black crater and tiny scraps of debris. (Photo by TONY KARUMBA / AFP)TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images

AFP/Getty Images

Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures

A page of a Boeing flight crew operations manual is seen at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash, near the town of Bishoftu, near Addis Ababa, Ethiopia March 12, 2019. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

REUTERS

Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures

epa07434278 Rescue workers search the site for pieces of the wreckage of an Ethiopia Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft near Bishoftu, Ethiopia, 13 March 2019. Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 carrying 149 passengers and 8 crew was en route to Nairobi, Kenya, when it crashed on 10 March 2019 by yet undetermined reason. All passengers and crew aboard died in the crash. The Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft has come under scrutiny after similar deadly crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia within a few months. Several countries have banned the plane type from their airspace and many airlines have grounded their 737 Max 8 planes for safety concerns after the Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed minutes after take-off on 10 March. EPA/STRINGER

EPA

Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures

A grounded Boeing 737 MAX 8 passenger plane of the Norwegian low-cost airline Norwegian is parked at the tarmac at Vantaa airport in Vantaa near Helsinki, Finland on March 13, 2019. - A number of countries have banned Boeing's 737 MAX 8 medium-haul workhorse jet from their airspace in response to the Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed all 157 people on board. (Photo by Heikki Saukkomaa / Lehtikuva / AFP) / Finland OUTHEIKKI SAUKKOMAA/AFP/Getty Images

AFP/Getty Images

Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures

Rescue workers search the site for pieces of the wreckage of an Ethiopia Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft near Bishoftu, Ethiopia, 13 March 2019. Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 carrying 149 passengers and 8 crew was en route to Nairobi, Kenya, when it crashed on 10 March 2019 by yet undetermined reason. All passengers and crew aboard died in the crash. The Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft has come under scrutiny after similar deadly crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia within a few months. Several countries have banned the plane type from their airspace and many airlines have grounded their 737 Max 8 planes for safety concerns after the Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed minutes after take-off on 10 March. EPA/STRINGER

EPA

Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures

A heap of debris from the wreckage of an Ethiopia Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft are piled at the crash site near Bishoftu, Ethiopia, 13 March 2019. Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 carrying 149 passengers and 8 crew was en route to Nairobi, Kenya, when it crashed on 10 March 2019 by yet undetermined reason. All passengers and crew aboard died in the crash. The Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft has come under scrutiny after similar deadly crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia within a few months. Several countries have banned the plane type from their airspace and many airlines have grounded their 737 Max 8 planes for safety concerns after the Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed minutes after take-off on 10 March. EPA/STR

EPA

Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures

A crew working with an investigative team to clear the site after the Sunday crash of the Ethiopian Airlines operated Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, carry debris at Hama Quntushele village in the Oromia region, on March 13, 2019. - A Nairobi-bound Ethiopian Airlines Boeing crashed minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa on March 10, killing all eight crew and 149 passengers on board, including tourists, business travellers, and "at least a dozen" UN staff. Families of the victims were taken to the remote site on March 13, 2019, where the plane smashed into a field with 157 passengers and crew from 35 countries, leaving a deep black crater and tiny scraps of debris. (Photo by TONY KARUMBA / AFP)TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images

AFP/Getty Images

Boeing 737 MAX grounding: Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 in pictures

FILE PHOTO: An American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8, on a flight from Miami to New York City, comes in for landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York, U.S., March 12, 2019. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo

REUTERS

Last week it emerged that a senior Boeing pilot told a colleague three years ago that an anti-stall system was “running rampant” in a flight simulator during tests.

The instant messages were exchanged in November 2016 between Mark Forkner, then Boeing’s chief technical pilot for the 737, and another test pilot, Patrik Gustavsson.

Stan Deal, currently president and CEO of the consulting arm Boeing Global Services, will succeed Mr McAllister.

“We’re grateful to Kevin for his dedicated and tireless service to Boeing, its customers and its communities during a challenging time, and for his commitment to support this transition,” said Boeing president and CEO Dennis Muilenburg.

“The Boeing board fully supports these leadership moves,” said Boeing chair David Calhoun. “Boeing will emerge stronger than ever from its current challenges and the changes we’re making throughout Boeing will benefit the flying public well into the future.”

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“Boeing is a great company with a commitment to safety I have seen firsthand working side-by-side with many thousands of tremendously talented and dedicated employees,” said Mr McAllister.

“It has been an honour to serve with such a professional team for the past three years.”

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