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Boeing shareholders have approved plans by the planemaker to hand outgoing chief executive Dave Calhoun a 2023 bonus worth up to $33m (£25m). Despite the criticism, the majority voted in favor of the plan at the company’s annual meetings. But these wage concepts are not binding.
A breakdown of election results was not immediately available. Prior to the meeting, at least one major shareholder advisory group had criticized the plan, and the company’s decision to put Calhoun on the company’s board of directors, which also attracted some investor speakers at the event mood also raised questions, but such also agreed. Calhoun's pay package included a bonus of $1.4 million (£1.1 million) and stock awards worth about $30 million (£23 million) at the time of issue. This is an increase from the $22.6 million (£17 million) received in 2022.
Asked during a question-and-answer period after the vote how the company "appropriates" compensation for Calhoun and others given the tough challenges the company is currently facing, new board chairman Steve Mollenkopf said the board cut grades one for employees in 2024 after the crash and made changes to its compensation incentive program quickly. This includes the weighting of production security primarily in terms of measuring performance, rather than economic terms as was once the case.
Both Mollenkopf and Calhoun acknowledged the pressures the company faces, some of which Calhoun described as "potential" in nature. The Alaska Airlines case once again sparked questions about the company’s operations and safety practices and sparked several investigations and lawsuits just days before the U.S. launched a series of air raids. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is saying it is considering whether to sue Boeing over its 2018 and 2019 fatal accidents with its 737 Max, after finding that Boeing breached the contract by defending itself against criminal charges on.
In March, Boeing announced that Calhoun would leave the company at the end of the year. The search for a replacement is now a major focus for the company, Mollenkopf said. "The coming months and years are critical for our company as we take the necessary steps to regain the trust we have recently lost," he said. Earlier this year, the board praised how Calhoun has steered the company through challenges like Covid since 2020, saying Alaska Airlines responded to the bombing "in the right way."
"The 737 MAX accident and COVID-19 combined to place significant stress on the company's operations and supply chain," it said. "But the board believes Boeing needs and continues to have Mr. Calhoun's special attention on safety, quality and transparency."
