Boeing Shareholders Vote To Pay Calhoun $33 Million

The BBC is reporting Boeing shareholders have voted to give outgoing President Dave Calhoun a 2023 pay package worth a total of about $33 million. The vote, which was taken at the company's annual meeting, is not binding. The shareholders also agreed to keep Calhoun as a director as Calhoun steps down and the company enters a crucial period. "The months and years ahead are critically important for our company as we take the necessary steps to regain the trust lost in recent times," newly elected Board Chair Steve Mollenkopf told the meeting.

Calhoun's compensation package includes $1.4 million in salary and stock awards worth about $30 million. The decision comes after a tough year for Boeing's commercial airplane division, with numerous quality control issues affecting production and culminating with the loss of a door plug on an Alaska Airlines MAX 9 that was missing four bolts needed to hold it in place. There was resistance among some shareholder over the pay award even as Calhoun and Mollenkopf acknowledged the problems facing the company are "potentially existential." Still, the company said Calhoun had overall done a good job in his four-year tenure.

"The 737 MAX accidents and COVID have combined to create tremendous stress on the Company’s manufacturing operations and supply chain," the company said. "However, the Board believes that Mr. Calhoun’s primary focus on safety, quality and transparency is exactly what Boeing has needed, and continues to need." The meeting came as the Department of Justice said it was considering criminal proceedings against Boeing over allegations it had breached a deal shielding it from criminal charges after the crashes of two MAXes that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019.