The CEO of Boeing, David Calhoun, got compensation of around $33 million last year, almost all of which came from stock awards. However, due to the decline in Boeing’s share price following the January blowout of a panel on one of its aircraft during mid flight, his stock payout this year will be reduced by over 25%.
On Friday, April 5, the company announced that post the accident on the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max, Calhoun declined a bonus of nearly $3 million for 2023. This month, he further announced that he will step down at the end of the year as Boeing deals with multiple investigations into the quality and safety of its manufacturing. Calhoun has been CEO since January 2020, when Max jets were still grounded worldwide after the two crashes.
The company in a regulatory filing said that Calhoun got a salary of $1.4 million last year and stock awards valued at $30.2 million. Including other items, his compensation totaled $32.8 million, up from $22.6 million in 2022.
“While the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident shows that Boeing has much work yet to do, the Board believes that Calhoun has responded to this event in the right way by taking responsibility for the accident and taking important steps to strengthen Boeing’s quality assurance,” the company said in Friday’s filing.
“The months and years ahead are critically important for The Boeing Company to take the necessary steps to regain the trust lost in recent times, to get back on track and perform like the company we all know Boeing can and must be, every day,” the company’s new chairman, Steve Mollenkopf, said in a letter to shareholders. Mollenkopf further added that the world needs a healthy, safe and successful Boeing.
Moreover, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is limiting Boeing’s production of 737s until the company meets the agency’s safety concerns. Boeing said Calhoun and other top executives will see their stock awards for this year reduced by about 22%, which the company said matched the drop in the share price from the accident until the stock-grant date. Boeing shares have fallen 26% since the panel blowout, through the end of regular trading Friday.
(with inputs from AP)