Boeing sacks the boss of commercial aircraft

The US aircraft manufacturer announced Tuesday the dismissal of the head of its commercial aviation division, Kevin McAllister.

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Kevin McAllister, Head of Commercial Aviation Division at Boeing, Le Bourget June 18. Pascal Rossignol / REUTERS

Departures to overcome the crisis. Boeing announced on Tuesday (October 22nd) the dismissal of its Commercial Aviation Division (BCA) chief, Kevin McAllister, the first departure of a senior executive since the start of the 737 MAX crisis, grounded since mid-March. after two close accidents resulting in 346 deaths.

Mr. McAllister is immediately replaced by Stan Deal, employee of the group since 1986 and until then at the head of the division offering various services (maintenance, training of crews …) of the aircraft manufacturer. The departure of the first occurs about ten days after the big boss, Dennis Muilenburg, was removed the title of president of the board of directors.

An engineer by training, Kevin McAllister arrived from General Electric (GE) two years ago and was acclaimed for his good knowledge of factories. It was powered in 2017 at the head of BCA to accompany the rise of the production rates of Boeing's main programs – the 737 MAX, the 787 and the 777.

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Criticized for not having publicly involved

McAllister was not at the helm of BCA when the 737 MAX was being developed, but critics had grown in recent weeks against him, according to internal sources. In particular, he was criticized for not having stepped into the niche, in view of the 737 MAX crisis, to reassure the general public, airlines and employees about this aircraft, which accounts for more than two thirds of Boeing's order book. "It was barely visible at a time when Boeing needed a public face"reacted Richard Aboulafia, an expert at Teal Group, for whom other departures will follow within Boeing.

The ouster of Mr. McAllister occurs while the pressure has redoubled on Dennis Muilenburg, which will be auditioned October 30, for the first time, by elected American. The leader should be asked about exchanges, published Friday, between two of its test pilots who report possible malfunctions of the autopilot system, MCAS, implicated in the two accidents of the MAX. This system, which was supposed to prevent the aircraft from going into a dive, made it difficult to fly a simulator, according to these conversations.

Boeing, whose crisis communication is much criticized, including his alleged lack of transparency, did not give reasons for Mr. McAllister's departure.

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