Boeing has recruited GE Aviation Services chief executive Kevin McAllister to replace Ray Conner as CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Conner, 61, has agreed to continue to serve as Boeing vice chairman until his retirement at the end of 2017 and work closely with McAllister in the months ahead “on a purposeful handoff.” Conner will also provide “strategic oversight and guidance” for what the company calls its transition to a single integrated services business and remain involved in product development strategy at BCA.
“With Ray Conner’s retirement timeline in sight and an expanding global services market to pursue, these moves will further strengthen and grow Boeing and better serve our customers, employees, shareholders and other partners in the years ahead,” said Boeing chairman, president and CEO Dennis Muilenburg. “We are immensely grateful to Ray for his leadership and contributions to Boeing over nearly four decades, and we will continue to rely on his vast experience and keen insights in supporting the leadership and business transitions under way.”
McAllister, 53, joins Boeing after 27 years with GE Aviation, where he served since 2014 as president and CEO of GE Aviation Services. Before that, as vice president and general manager of global sales and marketing since 2008, he drew credit for delivering record backlog growth for the nearly $25 billion GE business.
Meanwhile, Muilenburg has also appointed long-time Boeing executive Stan Deal as president and CEO of Boeing Global Services, a new business unit consisting of the customer services groups within the company’s existing commercial airplanes and defense, space and security business units.
Scheduled to begin operating as the company’s third major business unit in the third quarter of 2017, Boeing Global Services will provide what Boeing calls a broad portfolio of services and incorporate the capabilities of various Boeing subsidiaries, including Aviall and Jeppesen. Plans call for the division to employ a small core headquarters group based in Dallas, where Aviall currently maintains a sizeable presence. However, Boeing said it expects the vast majority of the work performed by Boeing Global Services to remain at existing locations for the foreseeable future.
Deal, 52, has served as senior vice president of Boeing’s Commercial Aviation Services business since 2014. Previously, he served as vice president and general manager of supply chain management and operations for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, responsible for supplier management, fabrication, propulsion systems and quality groups. Deal joined the company as an engineer on the C-17 program and held senior roles in sales and marketing.
“Stan is an exceptionally capable and experienced leader, and he’s ideally prepared to stand up an integrated Boeing services business to expand our share of a global commercial and defense services market worth an estimated $2.5 trillion over the next 10 years,” said Muilenburg. “Substantial services growth is core to Boeing’s strategy as we enter our second century, and this move is a key enabler to accelerate our efforts and provide increasing value to our customers.”