By Dan Catchpole
Seattle (Reuters) – Boeing Commercial Airplanes Head Stephanie Pope will concentrate on restoring the crucial and challenged aircraft unit of the company under a reorganization that ends its role as Chief Operating Officer of the company, but leaves her as the number 2 director .
The movement limits the focus and responsibility of Pope. She already led the unit and made aircraft for airlines around the world and was the executive power that was responsible for improving safety and increasing aircraft production after a series of accidents.
The role of Pope as Chief Operating Officer ended from February 19, the company said Tuesday.
Boeing is not going to fulfill the function of Chief Operating Officer, according to a person who is familiar with the case who was not authorized to give public comments.
Boeing shares were hardly changed to the trade after the hours.
Pope was appointed as the newly established role of Chief Operating Officer in December 2023, after David Calhoun called her the then CEO her choice to succeed him.
After the middle -sided eruption of a panel on an almost new Max Jet of 737 in January 2024, she was also drained to also run commercial planes from Boeing.
The accident imposed the renewed focus on production quality problems in the division and contributed to the Calhounth of the company. Kelly Ortberg became the new Chief Executive of Boeing in August.
Boeing's commercial aircraft production has struggled a series of crises that starts in 2019, after two fatal 737 Max -Crashes unveiled serious safety problems. Historically it was the largest of the three divisions of the company in terms of income and employees.
Deliveries to customers, however, started picking up. Boeing delivered 45 aircraft in January, an increase of 30 the last month and most in a month before the American flat maker since 2023.
Avolon CEO Andy Cronin said this month that the aircraft reduction, a large Boeing customer, “was really encouraged by what we see” at the company after touring production facilities in Seattle in January.
(Reporting by Dan Catchpole in Seattle and Utkarsh Shetti in Bengaluru; Writing by Peter Henderson; Edit by Jamie Freed)
