Following news that Boeing Co.’s CEO will step down, aviation experts are applauding the restructuring efforts while criticizing the company's emphasis on reducing costs. 

On Monday, the aerospace giant announced that Chief Executive Officer Dave Calhoun will leave the company at the end of the year. Richard Aboulafia, the managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory, said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg on Monday that he was “elated” to hear about the CEO change. 

“The problem is that he came from exactly the same culture that caused all of these problems,” he said. 

“My feeling was if he stayed, there'd be more of that emphasis on cost-cutting and very little regard for the company's actual core capabilities. And that's exactly how it's played out, I'm afraid.” 

The CEO change was coupled with other moves at the company, including that Chairman Larry Kellner will not stand for re-election and Stan Deal, the head of Boeing’s commercial airplane division, will retire. Efforts by the company to restructure come amid a crisis with its 737 Max jetliner. 


Under Calhoun’s leadership, Aboulafia said the company engaged in an “endless litany of cost-cutting rather than actual strategy.” He also highlighted that at the end of last year Calhoun moved to eliminate Boeing’s strategy department, adding that new leadership would be a welcomed change. 

John Gradek, a lecturer and coordinator at McGill University’s Aviation Management Program, said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg on Monday that the CEO change is “not unexpected” given that the company needs to look for ways to improve its reputation among customers and regulators. 

“People have been talking about the Boeing culture and the need to change the Boeing culture. The first step is really looking at the leadership and get a change of leadership in place,” he said. 

Aboulafia said the CEO change is a “very necessary, very big first step” and that the company operates in an industry with high barriers to entry, with “a lot of good people still” and “great technologies.” 

“All of this implies that with the right leadership, they can get back maybe even to a position of equality with their competitors and maybe even leadership in years to come,” he said. 

With files from Bloomberg News.