Boeing reworks the best engineers in the midst of the 737 MAX crisis

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Boeing Co.'s commercial aircraft division, facing its biggest crisis in many years after the crash of its flagship 737 MAX aircraft, has hired a new vice president of engineering. dedicating another senior official to aircraft investigations, reveals an email on Tuesday.

The management overhaul comes as Europe and Canada say they would seek the security of the Boeing 737 MAX, further complicating plans to fly the aircraft around the world after his grounding as a result of an accident that killed more than 300 people.

John Hamilton, formerly vice-president and chief engineer of Boeing's Commercial Aircraft Division, will focus solely on the role of chief engineer, said Kevin McAllister, chief executive officer of the unit, in an e-mail to Reuters.

"This will allow him to devote all his attention to ongoing investigations into accidents," said McAllister, adding that staffing changes were needed as "we set priorities and provide additional resources for ongoing investigations".

Lynne Hopper, who previously led Test & Evaluation at Boeing's Engineering, Test & Technology group, was named vice president of engineering, McAllister said.

A spokesman for Boeing declined to comment, but confirmed the authenticity of the email.

This reshuffle showed how the world's largest planner was releasing engineering resources while under control during accident investigations, while maintaining production of its 737 single-aisle planes.

Previously, Hamilton was vice president of engineering at Boeing Commercial Airplanes from April 2016 to March 2019, according to a biography posted on the Boeing website.

From July 2013 to March 2016, Hamilton was Vice President of Safety, Security, and Compliance and oversaw the Commercial Aircraft Organization Designation Authorization, which badumes specific security certification tasks on behalf of the US Federal Aviation Administration.

Legislators and security experts question the level of control of the MAX model by regulators and the level of pilot training for new features.

For now, global regulators have grounded the existing fleet of more than 300 MAX devices, and shipments of nearly 5,000 others – worth well over $ 500 billion – are waiting. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/2Hv2btC)

Boeing shares rose 0.3% on Tuesday to close at $ 373.43. They are still down more than 11% since the crash in Ethiopia, erasing more than $ 25 billion of its market share.