Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down by year-end in a broad management shakeup brought on by the planemaker’s sprawling safety crisis exacerbated by a January mid-air panel blowout on a 737 MAX plane.
In addition, board chair Larry Kellner and Stan Deal, head of the company’s commercial planes business, are also leaving as Boeing’s board tries to get control of the myriad issues that have shaken confidence in the iconic planemaker over several weeks.
The January incident was the most recent in a series of safety crises that have shaken the industry’s confidence in the planemaker and hampered its ability to increase production. Calhoun, 66, was brought in as CEO following a pair of crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed nearly 350 people.
Immediately after the Jan. 5 panel blowout, airline executives expressed support for Calhoun, but those good feelings ebbed after additional production delays and as regulators detailed quality problems at its key manufacturing hub outside Seattle.
Some investors said the shake-up would not be enough to address these persistent issues.
“Boeing has had massive problems for years and he has not been able to fix those problems,” said Adam Sarhan, chief executive at investment firm 50 Park Investments. “The CEO’s job is to fix the problem, and he hasn’t been able to do that.”
Boeing shares have lost roughly a quarter of their value since the incident. They were up 1.2 per cent Monday, well off earlier highs.
The company is facing heavy regulatory scrutiny and U.S. authorities curbed production while it attempts to fix its safety and quality problems. The company is in talks to buy its former subsidiary Spirit AeroSystems to try to get more control over its supply chain.
Michael O’Leary, head of Ireland’s Ryanair, a top Boeing customer, said on Monday the airline welcomed the “much-needed” management changes at Boeing, saying the shakeup was good for the U.S. planemaker’s customers.
Calhoun said he made the decision to step down. “It was me giving them notice that at the end of this year I plan to retire,” Calhoun told CNBC. He said he wanted to stay to the end of the year to address quality issues.
COO Stephanie Pope has been appointed to lead Boeing Commercial Airplanes, effective Monday.
Steve Mollenkopf, former CEO of tech company Qualcomm, has been appointed new chair of the board and is
leading the search for the next CEO. A source told Reuters Mollenkopf will join Kellner on planned meetings with major U.S. and foreign airline CEOs.
Scott Hamilton, managing director at aviation consulting firm Leeham Company, said the changes “speak to the depth of the crisis at the company following Jan. 5’s accident … But it also speaks to the thin bench for executive ranks.”
Questions about management
Regulatory scrutiny surfaced troubling issues that caused investors and customers to lose confidence in the iconic manufacturer.
A U.S. National Transportation Safety Board report of the Alaska Air incident found that the panel blowout was caused in part because several bolts meant to hold the plug in place were removed and not replaced – and there was no paperwork detailing what happened to those bolts.
The head of the NTSB told lawmakers in early March that the company had not provided records the agency had requested.
Following the incident, the FAA curbed Boeing production to a rate of 38 jets per month, but CFO Brian West said last week it had not even reached that figure. He added the planemaker has been burning more cash than expected in this quarter than expected.
Last week, a group of U.S. airline CEOs sought meetings with Boeing directors without Calhoun to express frustration over the Alaska Airlines accident and management.
“The problems in Boeing’s executive suite are systemic.
Nothing is going to change for the better without company leadership acknowledging their failures and thoroughly committing to fixing them,” said Ray Goforth, executive director of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, which represents more than 19,000 workers at Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems.
Analysts and investors called the shakeup positive for Boeing, but stressed that much depends on Calhoun’s successor and changing the company’s culture from the top.
Calhoun told CNBC Boeing will fix its quality issues.
“They are up to the challenge,” Calhoun said. “We’re going to calm it down. We’re going to get ahead of it.”
United said it “continues to root for Boeing’s success and we look forward to working with them during their leadership transition.” Delta said it “will remain closely engaged with Boeing.”
Some suggested Spirit AeroSystems CEO Patrick Shanahan, a former Boeing executive and U.S. government official, now tasked with a complex tie-up deal with the U.S. planemaker, as a possible successor to Calhoun.
Shanahan’s “sole priority remains building a culture of safety” at Spirit, spokesperson Joe Buccino said Monday.
Reporting by Lisa Barrington, David Shepardson and Allison Lampert; additional reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram and Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by David Gaffen, Anil D’Silva, Sriraj Kalluvila, Nick Zieminski and Deepa Babington
Most job search advice is cookie-cutter. The advice you’re following is almost certainly the same advice other job seekers follow, making you just another candidate following the same script.
In today’s hyper-competitive job market, standing out is critical, a challenge most job seekers struggle with. Instead of relying on generic questions recommended by self-proclaimed career coaches, which often lead to a forgettable interview, ask unique, thought-provoking questions that’ll spark engaging conversations and leave a lasting impression.
Your level of interest in the company and the role.
Contributing to your employer’s success is essential.
You desire a cultural fit.
Here are the top four questions experts recommend candidates ask; hence, they’ve become cliché questions you should avoid asking:
“What are the key responsibilities of this position?”
Most likely, the job description answers this question. Therefore, asking this question indicates you didn’t read the job description. If you require clarification, ask, “How many outbound calls will I be required to make daily?” “What will be my monthly revenue target?”
“What does a typical day look like?”
Although it’s important to understand day-to-day expectations, this question tends to elicit vague responses and rarely leads to a deeper conversation. Don’t focus on what your day will look like; instead, focus on being clear on the results you need to deliver. Nobody I know has ever been fired for not following a “typical day.” However, I know several people who were fired for failing to meet expectations. Before accepting a job offer, ensure you’re capable of meeting the employer’s expectations.
“How would you describe the company culture?”
Asking this question screams, “I read somewhere to ask this question.” There are much better ways to research a company’s culture, such as speaking to current and former employees, reading online reviews and news articles. Furthermore, since your interviewer works for the company, they’re presumably comfortable with the culture. Do you expect your interviewer to give you the brutal truth? “Be careful of Craig; get on his bad side, and he’ll make your life miserable.” “Bob is close to retirement. I give him lots of slack, which the rest of the team needs to pick up.”
Truism: No matter how much due diligence you do, only when you start working for the employer will you experience and, therefore, know their culture firsthand.
“What opportunities are there for professional development?”
When asked this question, I immediately think the candidate cares more about gaining than contributing, a showstopper. Managing your career is your responsibility, not your employer’s.
Cliché questions don’t impress hiring managers, nor will they differentiate you from your competition. To transform your interaction with your interviewer from a Q&A session into a dynamic discussion, ask unique, insightful questions.
Here are my four go-to questions—I have many more—to accomplish this:
“Describe your management style. How will you manage me?”
This question gives your interviewer the opportunity to talk about themselves, which we all love doing. As well, being in sync with my boss is extremely important to me. The management style of who’ll be my boss is a determining factor in whether or not I’ll accept the job.
“What is the one thing I should never do that’ll piss you off and possibly damage our working relationship beyond repair?”
This question also allows me to determine whether I and my to-be boss would be in sync. Sometimes I ask, “What are your pet peeves?”
“When I join the team, what would be the most important contribution you’d want to see from me in the first six months?”
Setting myself up for failure is the last thing I want. As I mentioned, focus on the results you need to produce and timelines. How realistic are the expectations? It’s never about the question; it’s about what you want to know. It’s important to know whether you’ll be able to meet or even exceed your new boss’s expectations.
“If I wanted to sell you on an idea or suggestion, what do you need to know?”
Years ago, a candidate asked me this question. I was impressed he wasn’t looking just to put in time; he was looking for how he could be a contributing employee. Every time I ask this question, it leads to an in-depth discussion.
Other questions I’ve asked:
“What keeps you up at night?”
“If you were to leave this company, who would follow?”
“How do you handle an employee making a mistake?”
“If you were to give a Ted Talk, what topic would you talk about?”
“What are three highly valued skills at [company] that I should master to advance?”
“What are the informal expectations of the role?”
“What is one misconception people have about you [or the company]?”
Your questions reveal a great deal about your motivations, drive to make a meaningful impact on the business, and a chance to morph the questioning into a conversation. Cliché questions don’t lead to meaningful discussions, whereas unique, thought-provoking questions do and, in turn, make you memorable.
Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers “unsweetened” job search advice. You can send Nick your questions to artoffindingwork@gmail.com.
CALGARY – Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. reported a third-quarter profit of $2.27 billion, down from $2.34 billion in the same quarter last year.
The company says the profit amounted to $1.06 per diluted share for the quarter that ended Sept. 30 compared with $1.06 per diluted share a year earlier.
Product sales totalled $10.40 billion, down from $11.76 billion in the same quarter last year.
Daily production for the quarter averaged 1,363,086 barrels of oil equivalent per day, down from 1,393,614 a year ago.
On an adjusted basis, Canadian Natural says it earned 97 cents per diluted share for the quarter, down from an adjusted profit of $1.30 per diluted share in the same quarter last year.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 90 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2024.
CALGARY – Cenovus Energy Inc. reported its third-quarter profit fell compared with a year as its revenue edged lower.
The company says it earned $820 million or 42 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, down from $1.86 billion or 97 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $14.25 billion, down from $14.58 billion in the same quarter last year.
Total upstream production in the quarter amounted to 771,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day, down from 797,000 a year earlier.
Total downstream throughput was 642,900 barrels per day compared with 664,300 in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Cenovus says its funds flow amounted to $1.05 per diluted share in its latest quarter, down from adjusted funds flow of $1.81 per diluted share a year earlier.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2024.
