It's part of an overhaul of Boeing's top management that extends to its chair, Larry Kellner, and the CEO of its commercial-airplanes division, Stan Deal.
Deal will retire from the company effective Monday, the company said in a news release. He's set to be replaced by Stephanie Pope, the chief operating officer. Kellner, the chair of the board since 2019, won't stand for reelection at the upcoming annual shareholder meeting.
In a letter to employees, Calhoun said: "It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve Boeing."
Earlier in the letter, he said: "The eyes of the world are on us, and I know that we will come through this moment a better company."
Advertisement
He ended the letter by saying: "We will remain squarely focused on completing the work we have done together to return our company to stability after the extraordinary challenges of the past five years, with safety and quality at the forefront of everything that we do."
The planemaker has faced increased scrutiny since an Alaska Airlines blowout on January 5.
A door plug, which covers a deactivated emergency exit, came off in midair. In its preliminary report, the National Transportation Safety Board said the 737 Max 9 left Boeing's factory missing key bolts designed to secure the door plug.
Bloomberg reported Thursday that airline bosses would meet with Boeing executives to express their frustrations about the saga. Calhoun was not set to participate in the meetings, the report said.
It's the second crisis related to the 737 Max, Boeing's flagship narrowbody jet.
Dennis Muilenburg, Calhoun's predecessor, was fired after 346 people died in two 737 Max 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019.
{{}}
NewsletterSIMPLY PUT - where we join the dots to inform and inspire you. Sign up for a weekly brief collating many news items into one untangled thought delivered straight to your mailbox.