Boeing's CEO survived a shareholder vote seeking to prevent him from also being the company's board chairman

Joshua Lott/Pool via Reuters

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg.

• A proposal that would have separated the CEO and board chairman roles at Boeing did not pass at the aerospace manufacturer's annual shareholder meeting on Monday.
• Only 34% of voters supported the proposal, the company announced at the meeting, which was held in Chicago.
• The proposal argued that an independent chairman would be better suited to helping the board develop long-term strategy while allowing CEO Dennis Muilenburg to focus on immediate concerns.
• Boeing's board of directors recommended that shareholders oppose the proposal.
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A proposal that would have separated the CEO and board chairman roles at Boeing did not pass at the aerospace manufacturer's annual shareholder meeting on Monday.

Only 34% of voters supported the proposal, the company announced at the meeting, which was held in Chicago. The proposal argued that an independent chairman would be better suited to helping the board develop long-term strategy while allowing CEO Dennis Muilenburg to focus on immediate concerns, including the backlash to crashes involving Boeing's 737 Max aircraft and expenses involved in the development of the KC-46 Air Force tanker aircraft.

Read more: Boeing's CEO will be on the first 737 Max flights when the controversial plane returns to service

"An independent Chairman is best positioned to build up the strategic planning capabilities of our directors while our CEO addresses the challenging day-to-day issues facing the company," Boeing's 2019 proxy statement says. "The roles of Chairman and CEO are fundamentally different and should be held by 2 directors, a CEO and a Chairman who is completely independent of the CEO and our company."

Boeing's board of directors recommended that shareholders oppose the proposal.

The company has come under fire in recent months following two deadly crashes involving the 737 Max. In October, a Lion Air flight crashed and killed all 189 people on board, and in March, an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed and killed all 157 people on board.

The 737 Max has been grounded in many countries since March as technology designed to prevent the aircraft from stalling has come under scrutiny. During both crashes, the technology activated because of false sensor readings and pushed the planes downward at too steep of an angle. Boeing has said it will give customers a software update to fix the issue, but it must first receive approval from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Muilenburg said on Monday during the shareholder meeting that he'll be onboard the first flights of the 737 Max when it eventually returns to service.

• Read more:
• Airlines say the grounding of the 737 Max will cost them hundreds of millions of dollars, and they're ready to pursue Boeing for the money
• Southwest and FAA officials never knew Boeing turned off a safety feature on its 737 Max jets, and dismissed ideas about grounding them
• The Boeing 737 Max crashes show that 'deteriorating pilot skills' may push airlines to favor Airbus
• Boeing CEO vows that the fixed 737 Max will be 'one of the safest airplanes ever to fly' after the jet suffered two fatal crashes in five months

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