(Reuters) – Boeing on Monday named long-serving insider Stephanie Pope to the newly created role of chief operating officer, likely making her one of the top contenders to succeed David Calhoun as CEO when he steps down.
Here are some details about Pope and her near three-decade-long career with the U.S. planemaker.
EDUCATION & CAREER
Pope joined Boeing in 1994 and rose through the ranks to take on senior-level roles at all three of the company’s key businesses.
Before becoming the CEO of Boeing Global Services (BGS) in April 2022, she was the finance chief of the commercial airplanes business from December 2020 to March 2022. Prior to that, she was the CFO of BGS from January 2017 to December 2020.
She has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Southwest Missouri State University and a Master of Business Administration from Lindenwood University.
BGS’ PERFORMANCE UNDER POPE
BGS is Boeing’s only business to report a profit in the first nine months of 2023, as the company’s commercial planemaking struggled with supply chain issues, while its defense businesses faced cost overruns.
BGS revenue under Pope rose 9% to $4.81 billion for the quarter through Sept. 30 this year, while its operating margins fell to 16.3% from 16.5%. The quarter before she took over in April 2022, the unit’s revenue was $4.31 billion, while the operating margin was 14.6%.
The business provides services such as engineering, maintenance and modifications, upgrades and conversions, as well as spare parts to Boeing’s commercial and defense customers.
REACTIONS
“The move could be setting her up as a possible successor to Dave Calhoun as CEO,” Jefferies analysts said in a note.
“Having generated all the company’s profits in recent years as head of the Services division, she is now in pole position to succeed Dave Calhoun as CEO,” Vertical Research Partners analyst Robert Stallard wrote in a note.
“Stephanie brings tremendous operational, financial and customer experience to this (COO) role,” Boeing CEO Calhoun said in a statement.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the appointment of Pope as Boeing’s COO.
(Reporting by Abhinav Parmar and Priyadarshini Basu in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
