Dec 11 (Portal) – Boeing (BA.N) on Monday named 30-year company veteran Stephanie Pope as chief operating officer. That makes her likely one of the top candidates to succeed CEO David Calhoun if he decides to step down from the top job.
Pope currently leads the company’s aftermarket business, Boeing Global Services (BGS), the only segment that reported a profit in the first nine months of this year as supply chain problems and cost overruns weighed on its other two divisions – commercial aircraft manufacturing and defense.
Calhoun, who led Boeing through one of its most turbulent periods in decades following overlapping safety and pandemic-related crises, is expected to remain at the helm for at least another year, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
The planemaker raised Calhoun’s required retirement age from 65 to 70 in April 2021, giving him enough time to steer the planemaker through the recovery process after a series of missteps.
“Stephanie brings tremendous operational, financial and customer experience to this (COO) role,” Calhoun said Monday.
Pope, who joined Boeing in 1994, was involved in all three of the company’s key businesses during those years.
In her previous positions, she was chief financial officer of Boeing’s commercial aircraft business and vice president of finance and controller of Boeing’s defense, space and security segment.
In April 2022 she took over the management of BGS. The company provides services such as engineering, maintenance and modifications, upgrades and conversions, and spare parts to Boeing’s commercial and defense customers.
Pope would be the first female CEO in Boeing’s history if named to the top.
As the WSJ reported, Boeing’s board of directors met in recent days to discuss top executives who might succeed Calhoun. Also in the running are CFO Brian West and head of commercial aircraft business Stan Deal, the report added.
Reporting by Anirudh Saligrama and Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Edited by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Rashmi Aich
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