- Boeing announced that Dave Calhoun is stepping down as CEO at the end of this year.
- Calhoun said leaving the airline was 100% his own decision.
- The CEO said all leadership changes were deliberate and he wants to give the board time to adjust.
Dave Calhoun plans to resign as Boeing's CEO at the end of this year, the company announced Monday.
The CEO, who has held the job since 2020, said that the decision to leave was "100%" his own, when asked about the timing during an interview with CNBC on Monday.
"I've entered my fifth year," Calhoun said in the interview. "At the end of this year, I'll be close to 68 years old."
Calhoun is the second CEO that Boeing has ousted after a 737 Max-related crisis. In December 2019, former Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg was fired after two crashes involving a different Max variant, the Max 8, killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019.
Calhoun's retirement announcement comes as Boeing grapples with a quality-control crisis following a door plug that blew out during an Alaska Airlines flight on January 5.
The incident launched investigations from the Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of Justice, and the National Transportation Safety Board.
In the same statement announcing his retirement, Calhoun mentioned two other major leadership changes within the company.
Stephanie Pope replaced Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO Stan Deal. The statement said Deal was also retiring, but the replacement was effective immediately. Additionally, the statement said the board chair, Larry Kellner, won't run for reelection at Boeing's upcoming shareholder meeting.
Calhoun said all of the leadership changes were "very deliberate" and gave internal employees a chance.
The CEO told CNBC in an interview that he's holding off on his retirement until the end of the year because he always told the board that he would give plenty of notice before leaving the company.
"That's what this is about," the CEO said. "It's me giving them notice that at the end of this year, I plan to retire."
The CEO also said his timing is due to Boeing having "another mountain to climb" with the recent quality-control issues. He committed himself to the board to ensure the company takes the next steps and gets through this period.
"As you all know, the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident was a watershed moment for Boeing," Calhoun said in a memo to employees announcing the change. "We must continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency. We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company."
The CEO told CNBC that he would weigh in on who becomes the next CEO, but he said the board will ultimately make the decision.