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Bloomberg
Boeing Co. selected a new honcho for its 737 Max jetliner program — the fifth executive to hold the post since 2018.
Ed Clark Jr., a vice president who previously served as chief mechanic and chief engineer for the single-aisle aircraft family, was named general manager of the operation, according to a memo sent to employees.
His duties include running the Renton, Washington, campus where Boeing has manufactured the workhorse 737s for more than a half-century. The program grappled with parts shortages in 2018, and hundreds of undelivered jets built during a grounding imposed in March 2019 after two fatal crashes.
Clark held leadership roles at Southwest Airlines Co., the world’s largest 737 operator, and now-defunct Trans World Airlines before joining Boeing in 2006 as chief mechanic for single-aisle replacement studies. More recently, he was a vice president for global technical operations with the planemaker’s global services division.
He replaces Walter Odisho, a former Toyota Motor Corp. executive who joined the planemaker in 2013 as a vice president in charge of manufacturing, safety and quality.
Odisho is retiring after taking over the 737 program a year ago, nursing the Renton site back online following a four-month shutdown.
Odisho “has been a tireless champion for safety and first-time quality,†Mark Jenks, vice president in charge of airplane programs, said in the memo.