Boeing CEO faces long to-do list to collect $7m bonus

Bloomberg

Boeing Co CEO Dave Calhoun stands to reap a $7 million bonus once the planemaker finally gets the grounded 737 Max jetliner back in the air. But there’s a catch, according to a company filing.
To collect, the new CEO must also resolve lingering issues with the aerospace titan’s other problem-plagued programs. That means achieving the first human flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft and ending the production woes bedeviling the KC-46 tanker, which have drawn the Pentagon’s ire.
Also on his to-do list: successfully guiding the 777X, Boeing’s first new jetliner to follow the Max, through regulatory review and into the commercial market. Then there’s the challenge of restructuring Boeing’s engineering corps to sharpen the focus on safety, hitting long-range milestones for the company’s services division and launching joint ventures with Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA.
If the US manufacturer hasn’t substantially achieved these milestones by the end of 2023, Calhoun will forfeit the payout, Boeing said in a filing that revealed the terms of his January 10 hiring agreement. Calhoun, 62, would still be well paid, with $10.9 million annual target compensation and an additional $10 million award of restricted stock that vests over three years.
But Calhoun’s bonus drew criticism when it was initially announced as he replaced Dennis Muilenburg, who was ousted after repeatedly missing targets for ending a global flying ban on the Max following two fatal accidents.
Democratic lawmakers had called on Boeing to cancel the payout immediately, on February 4, saying doing so would ensure that he had no incentive to rush the plane back into the sky.
Calhoun’s rewards, which were approved by a Boeing board committee, are subject to an “enhanced clawback policy that applies to instances of misconduct that compromise the safety of the company’s products or services.”
Separately, Boeing directors elected Qualcomm Inc Chief Executive Officer Steve Mollenkopf and Akhil Johri, the former chief financial officer of aerospace partsmaker United Technologies Corp as directors.
Mollenkopf and Johri bring technical expertise to a board that has drawn fire for skewing towards the financial sector and responding slowly as crisis engulfed Boeing last year.
Mollenkopf, 51, is an electrical engineer by training while Johri, 58, spent a quarter-century at one of Boeing’s largest suppliers.
The board revamp extends an overhaul of Boeing’s leadership as the company seeks to salvage its battered reputation for engineering prowess.