Executive In Charge Of Boeing 737 MAX Retires

By: Ben Schlappig

Published: July 12, 2019

20 comments

It has just been announced that Eric Lindblad, who is the Boeing Vice President in charge of the 737 MAX program and Renton assembly plant, will be retiring. Lindblad has been at Boeing for 34 years, though has only been in his current role since last August.

He was brought into the role to fix the supply chain and manufacturing issues that Boeing was having with the 737 MAX, though within months of him taking the role, the focus shifted quite a bit. As we all know by now, two Boeing 737 MAXs crashed, and the planes have been grounded globally since March, with no end for the groundings in sight.

Lindblad is 57 and said in a letter to employees that he had planned to retire last summer, but couldn’t turn up the opportunity he was given. He notes that 23 of his 34 years at Boeing were spent in Renton, and that this opportunity was like a homecoming for him. He also notes how it has been one of the most challenging times the Boeing 737 program ever faced.

Boeing Commercial CEO, Kevin McAllister, has made it clear that Lindblad isn’t being forced to retire.

He praised Lindblad’s “strong leadership and tireless drive over the past 12 months leading the 737 program, as he has navigated some of the most difficult challenges our company has ever faced.”

Bottom line

Frankly I’m surprised we haven’t seen more management changes at the top of Boeing (though Boeing’s CEO has since been fired), given the current 737 MAX disaster, and the amount of credibility that Boeing has lost as a result of this.

In this particular case, though, I do believe that Lindblad left voluntarily, and he certainly can’t be blamed for what went wrong here.

Assuming the story is true, I can’t imagine planning on retiring and then taking a job in hopes of helping with supply chain, only to have this disaster end up happening.

Then again, if he is leaving voluntarily, is he doing so because he thinks there’s someone better for the job, or he’s job at the point where he’s saying “screw it, I don’t want to deal with this anymore?”

Good luck to whoever takes his place…

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Kristen Guest

July 15, 2019, 5:37 pm

He wasn't even in that role for more than 8 months... he is not the reason for the problems. Sorry to see his name being thrown out like its his fault - just not the case.

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Paolo Diamond

July 13, 2019, 6:26 am

Pathetic. Dump a few willing scapegoats but the fat cats at the top survive, despite having presided over the worst PR disaster ( and significant human tragedy) of the past 30 years.

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Kitsilano Guest

July 12, 2019, 10:23 pm

I don't understand why there is so much vitriol being shown against this guy. With 34 years at Boeing, "He was brought into the role to fix the supply chain and manufacturing issues that Boeing was having with the 737 MAX, though within months of him taking the role, the focus shifted quite a bit." The supply chain is completely separate to (and largely subordinate to) the design, engineering and software steams that pushed this aircraft forward. It would be more charitable to see his decision to retire as being more aligned with a position that supply chain aside, the programme is in such an awful state that by remaining in his post his Boeing professional legacy would become tainted by the eventual outcome and likely recriminations that will fly. And why assume that he has any fiscal reward beyond the normal terms of service? Heck, if I was a supply chain specialist and then got to see the inside of the 737 MAX program, I think I'd head for Retirement Hills as soon as I could, without having my professional reputation sewered!

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john Guest

July 12, 2019, 7:46 pm

I don't know if Linblad's departure is voluntary or involuntary. As with Labor Secretary Acosta, statements about personnel decisions are often misleading or just plain false. One thing I'd bet on is Linblad is leaving with a multi-million dollar severance package that will have him rolling in dough for the rest of his life even if he truly retires.

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BillC Gold

July 12, 2019, 5:49 pm

Good grief! So much "Monday morning quarterbacking" about what should be going on within Boeing's management! Unless you have organizations that are staffed with fully redundant talents and personnel up and down the management hierarchy, it is seldom "beneficial" to just "fire" everyone involved, right away, just because some event(s) went awry within corporate operations! Boeing must be doing *much* more internally than just engaging in external "damage control" -- they must be working feverishly to try and *resolve* the current crises issues ASAP, so that everything can get back on track! Merely doing "damage control" typically involves some sort of public relations "cover up" and/or "diversion" and does *not,* itself, actually "fix" anything from an engineering perspective! So here's the operative question -- is it easier to try and fix things ASAP with existing talents and personnel, who already know how to function within the current organizations, or with totally new groups of talents and personnel who need to first become familiar with the corporate infrastructures from scratch? Also ... more rigorous management oversight efforts can be imposed upon existing talents and personnel in order to super-focus on the crisis at hand and accelerate resolutions without further undue delays and distractions! Management accountability can always come later *after* everything is back on track!

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