Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun Made $32.7 Million in 2023

Departing Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun received around $32.7 million in compensation for 2023, according to an annual proxy statement filed Friday. 

Calhoun’s pay includes a base salary of $1.4 million, nearly $30.2 million in stock awards and around $1.1 million in other compensation. 

The Boeing CEO declined to receive an annual bonus in February following an incident where a door plug blew off an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 mid-air. 

In 2022, Calhoun made around $22.6 million and his pay in 2021 was around $21.2 million. Calhoun was named CEO in 2020 and his total compensation for 2023 is the highest he’s earned during his short tenure as CEO. 

Stan Deal, the former CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, will be paid around $12.5 million for 2023, with the majority of his compensation coming from stock awards. 

Boeing Changes Compensation Metrics for 2024

After the Alaska incident, Boeing’s executive compensation committee made changes to the way its highest-ranked officials are paid in 2024. For example, the pay for executives in the commercial airplanes unit will be weighted 60% toward operational performance and 40% financial. Financial performance had previously made up 75% of compensation. 

The operational performance of Commercial Airplanes is going to be entirely focused on safety and quality. 

Financial performance will be evenly weighted between results of the business unit and the overall company. Previously, business unit results received only a 33% weighting. Boeing said in the proxy that making the two metrics even would “drive greater accountability for financial outcomes at the business unit level.”

Calhoun had been under intense pressure from regulators and airlines after the Alaska incident brought renewed scrutiny to Boeing’s production and quality issues. The Boeing CEO is set to step down from his role at the end of the year. 

A National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report found that Boeing didn’t properly drill in the four bolts needed to keep the door-plug on the Alaska jet intact. Boeing has repeatedly apologized for the incident and has said it would look to improve its production processes and quality control. 

“I promise that I personally, and we as a Board, will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to get this company to where it needs to be. And the work of renewal has already begun,” wrote new Boeing board chair Steve Mollenkopf in a letter to shareholders.