Dennis A. Muilenburg is an American engineer, business executive, and the former president and chief executive officer of The Boeing Company, a multinational aerospace and defense company. He was CEO from July 2015 until December 23, 2019, when he was fired in the aftermath of two crashes and the subsequent grounding of the 737 MAX worldwide.
Muilenburg started work at Boeing as an intern in 1985. Muilenburg held numerous management and engineering positions on various Boeing programs, including the X-32 ; Boeing's participation in the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor fighter; the YAL-1 747 Airborne Laser; the High Speed Civil Transport; and the Condorunmanned reconnaissance aircraft. He was later vice president of the Boeing combat systems division and program manager for the Army Future Combat Systems program. Muilenburg was president and chief executive officer of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, later renamed Boeing Defense, Space & Security, from September 2009 to 2015. In December 2013, Muilenburg became the president of Boeing. In June 2015, Boeing announced that Muilenburg would succeed James McNerney as CEO, who was stepping down after ten years in that role. He became CEO in July 2015. In February 2016, it was announced that Muilenburg would also succeed McNerney as Boeing's chairman. In March 2016, Muilenburg became the chairman of the board of directors of Boeing. In March 2019, as a result of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash and the Lion Air Flight 610 crash, which occurred five months prior to the Ethiopian crash, most airlines and countries began grounding the Boeing 737 MAX 8 due to safety concerns. On March 12, President Donald Trump spoke to Muilenburg and received assurances that the aircraft was safe. In October 2019, Boeing announced that the board had voted to separate the roles of chairman and CEO, both of which were held by Muilenburg. David L. Calhoun was elected to take over as non-executive chairman, while Muilenburg continued as CEO and president. The company said this change would enable Muilenburg to focus full-time on running the company, while it worked to return the Boeing 737 MAX to service. In November 2019, Muilenburg confirmed that he would not be taking a bonus for the year, after being criticized for the two plane crashes, which killed a total of 346 people. On December 23, 2019, Boeing announced that Muilenburg resigned as the CEO and board director, in the aftermath of the two crashes of 737 MAX aircraft. He was succeeded as CEO and president by current chairman David L. Calhoun, effective January 13, 2020. The current CFO, Greg Smith, will serve as interim CEO during the transition. Boeing's press release stated that, "The Board of Directors decided that a change in leadership was necessary to restore confidence in the Company moving forward as it works to repair relationships with regulators, customers, and all other stakeholders." In January 2020, Caterpillar Inc. announced that Muilenburg had resigned from its board, and stated in a regulatory filing that his resignation was not due to any disagreement with the company.
Muilenburg cycles about 120 miles per week around the Chicago area, where Boeing is headquartered. Muilenburg is a church member and has spoken about managing overall life.
