Boeing’s commercial airplane division, facing its biggest crisis
in years following deadly crashes of
its flagship 737 MAX aircraft, has brought in a new vice president of engineering while dedicating another top executive to the aircraft investigations, a company email showed on Tuesday.
its flagship 737 MAX aircraft, has brought in a new vice president of engineering while dedicating another top executive to the aircraft investigations, a company email showed on Tuesday.
The management reshuffle comes as Europe and
Canada said they would seek their own guarantees over the safety of
Boeing’s 737 MAX, further complicating plans to get the aircraft flying
worldwide after they were grounded in the wake of crashes that killed
more than 300 people.
John Hamilton, formerly both vice
president and chief engineer in Boeing’s Commercial Airplanes division,
will focus solely on the role of chief engineer, the unit’s Chief
Executive Officer Kevin McAllister told employees on Tuesday in an email
seen by Reuters.
“This will allow him to fully
dedicate his attention to the ongoing accident investigations,” Mr
McAllister said, adding that the staffing changes were needed as “we
prioritise and bring on additional resources for the ongoing accident
investigations.”
Lynne Hopper - who previously led Test
& Evaluation in Boeing’s Engineering, Test & Technology group -
has been named vice president of Engineering, Mr McAllister said.
A Boeing spokesman declined to comment but confirmed the authenticity of the email.
The
shakeup showed how the world’s largest planemaker was freeing up
engineering resources as it faces scrutiny during crash investigations
while also maintaining production of its money-spinning 737 single-aisle
aircrafts.
Previously, Mr Hamilton served as the vice
president of engineering for Boeing Commercial Airplanes from April 2016
through March 2019, according to a biography on Boeing’s website.
From
July 2013 through March 2016, Mr Hamilton served as the vice president
of Safety, Security and Compliance and oversaw the Commercial Airplanes
Organisation Designation Authorisation - a program that takes on
specific safety certification duties on behalf of the US Federal
Aviation Administration.
Lawmakers and safety experts
are questioning how thoroughly regulators vetted the MAX model and how
well pilots were trained on new features.
For now,
global regulators have grounded the existing fleet of more than 300 MAX
aircraft, and deliveries of nearly 5,000 more - worth well over $500
billion - are on hold.
Boeing shares rose 0.3 percent
on Tuesday, to close at $373.43. They are still down more than 11
percent since the crash in Ethiopia, wiping out over $25 billion off its
market share.
No comments :
Post a Comment