Boeing said today that it had fired Chief Executive Harry Stonecipher, after a probe into a personal relationship he had with a female executive that it said 'reflected poorly' on the No 1 US aircraft maker.
Boeing's board 'asked for and received' Stonecipher's resignation, taking action following an investigation into 'a personal relationship between Stonecipher and a female executive of the company who did not report directly to him,' the commercial jet manufacturer and defence contractor said.
Boeing Chief Financial Officer James Bell, 56, will succeed Stonecipher on an interim basis, the company said.
Stonecipher, who took the helm at Boeing in December 2003 in a bid to put a series of defence procurement scandals behind the company, had been credited with a more aggressive marketing approach that had seen a revival in commercial jet orders at the Chicago-based company.
Stonecipher, 68, is married and has two children and two grandchildren.
The company also said Chairman Lew Platt would assume an expanded role at the top US aircraft maker.
'The board concluded that the facts reflected poorly on Harry's judgment and would impair his ability to lead the company,' Platt said in a statement, adding that the resignation was unrelated to the group's operational performance or financial condition.
The company said that the unnamed female executive did not report directly to Stonecipher, but said the board decided 'his actions were inconsistent with Boeing's Code of Conduct.'
