Boeing 737 MAX executive to leave after latest grounding

The vice-president of Boeing's 737 MAX program, Ed Clark, is set to leave the US aviation giant amid a leadership team reshuffle, the company said on Wednesday.

Clark, the head of Boeing's 737 jetliner program, has been at the company for 18 years.

He will be replaced as vice-president and general manager of the 737 program by Katie Ringgold.

The moves are part of the company's "enhanced focus on ensuring that every airplane we deliver meets or exceeds all quality and safety requirements," Boeing Commercial Airplanes President Stan Deal wrote in an email to employees.

"Our customers demand, and deserve, nothing less."

The move comes with Boeing still under scrutiny after a mid-air blowout on one of its 737 MAX 9 aircraft in January.

On January 6, the US aviation regulator FAA ordered the temporary grounding of certain Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft operated by US airlines or in US territory, affecting 171 planes.

"The FAA's first priority is keeping the flying public safe," the regulator said, before ordering "complete corrective action requirements based on findings from the inspections prior to bringing any aircraft back into service."

The US aviation regulator said on January 25  that the 737 MAX 9 can start flying again, however it told Boeing to put plans to expand production of the model on ice and keep production rates at their current levels.

The MAX models, several of which have gone into production, are the latest in Boeing's long-running 737 series of planes, which are the company's top selling type of aircraft by volume.

But the planes were also grounded for more than a year in most of the world between 2019 and 2020 following a pair of crashes.

mf/msh (AP, Reuters)