Boeing has appointed Stephanie Pope – currently head of the airframer’s services business – to the newly created post of chief operating officer (COO), effective from 1 January.
Disclosing the move on 11 December, Boeing described Pope as an accomplished company veteran who has accumulated experience across several corporate functions during 29 years with the business.
The news was met with speculation that Boeing is grooming Pope to succeed David Calhoun as chief executive.
“A COO at this level is… like a refresher course toward the CEO position,” says Michel Merluzeau, aerospace analyst with AIR. The job will give Pope more experience across all Boeing’s business units, he notes.
Much of Pope’s previous experience has been in finance roles – including chief financial officer of both the global services and commercial airplanes business units – and Merluzeau expects she will help Boeing restore its financial position prior to launching a new aircraft programme.
“As Boeing COO, Pope will oversee the performance of the company’s three business units with responsibility for driving supply chain, quality, manufacturing and engineering excellence across the company,” the airframer says.
Several top Boeing staff will report to Pope after she takes the new job. Those include president of global operations Brendan Nelson, chief engineer Howard McKenzie and the three chief executives of the company’s business units – Stan Deal at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Ted Colbert at Boeing Defence, Space & Security, and Pope’s eventual successor at Boeing Global Services.
“I am honoured to step into this new role and look forward to working closely with Dave, our executive council and all of our Boeing teammates,” says Pope. “We will continue to improve operating performance and remain committed to delivering for our customers, while ensuring the highest levels of safety, quality and transparency.”
Pope took over as head of Global Services in 2022, following Colbert’s move to lead Defense, Space & Security.
She has held several other roles at Boeing since joining the company in 1994 as a finance manager, according to her LinkedIn profile.
“Stephanie brings tremendous operational, financial and customer experience to this role, as well as a proven record of performance across our commercial, defence and services business units,” says Calhoun.
He calls 2024 “a significant transitional year” during which the company will seek to “restore our operational and financial strength”.
“Stephanie will help drive the stability and predictability necessary to ensure we deliver,” Calhoun adds.
Merluzeau views Pope as an executive well versed in Boeing’s businesses and with skills needed to focus on financial health. Boeing has also struggled with several of its defence aircraft development programmes.
“This is going to be perceived positively by a big chunk of the investors group and shareholders. They like someone who is probably going to be focused on financial execution,” he says. “She has been the star of Boeing over the past few years.”
