Feb. 25, 2016<\/p>\n
Boeing Co. named Leanne Caret on Wednesday as president and chief executive of its $30 billion defense business as new CEO Dennis Muilenburg starts to reshape the aerospace company\u2019s leadership team.<\/p>\n
Caret, 49, will be the first woman to oversee the defense, space and security business at Boeing, which is based in north St. Louis County. She succeeds Chris Chadwick, 55, who is retiring on March 1 after 34 years at the aircraft maker, Boeing said.<\/p>\n
A 28-year company veteran, Caret currently leads the defense unit\u2019s $9 billion Global Services & Support business, which has 13,000 employees in 295 locations around the world. She takes over a division that may see revenue drop to as low as $28.5 billion this year as government defense budgets get squeezed around the world, according to Boeing forecasts.<\/p>\n
Caret\u2019s ability to \u201cextract value out of Boeing\u2019s current programs\u201d in her current role will be valuable as she looks for new ways to reap gains from key products such as the St. Louis-built F\/A-18 and F-15 fighter programs, which are approaching the end of production, said Michel Merluzeau, an aerospace and defense consultant.<\/p>\n
Reaping sales from parts and technology upgrades has become increasingly important for Boeing in an era of constrained defense spending.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere you have somebody who appears to be very strong at the management of Boeing\u2019s legacy of in-service assets,\u201d said Merluzeau, vice president for aerospace strategy and business development with consultant Frost & Sullivan.<\/p>\n
Chadwick held a range of senior executive roles at Boeing before taking over the defense business, a role he assumed after Muilenburg was named Boeing president in December 2013 as part of a succession plan crafted by former CEO Jim McNerney.<\/p>\n
Boeing spokesman John Dern said Chadwick, 55, was eligible for retirement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe defense business is on a solid footing. He feels that retiring tomorrow will give Leanne an ample amount of time to build on the foundation that\u2019s there,\u201d Dern said.<\/p>\n
Asked if Chadwick\u2019s departure was due to the company\u2019s loss of a multibillion-dollar bomber contract to rival Northrop Grumman Corp. last year, he said, \u201cNo specific event drove the decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
His departure just two years after taking the job had \u201cnothing to do with ethics or personal misconduct,\u201d Dern said.<\/p>\n
Muilenburg, who became CEO in July, will become chairman of the board after McNerney steps down as a director on March 1.<\/p>\n
\u201dLeanne has a track record of delivering results, an intense customer focus, and the global acumen necessary to build on the existing strengths of our defense, space and security business and grow it for the future,\u201d Muilenburg said in a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n Boeing\u2019s defense business has been eclipsed this decade by the commercial airplanes unit because of soaring jetliner demand and shrinking defense budgets.<\/p>\n The unit accounted for 31 percent of Boeing revenue in 2015, down from 50 percent in 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.<\/p>\n Boeing employs about 14,500 people in the St. Louis area.<\/p>\n Caret becomes the third woman to head a major U.S. weapons maker, joining Marillyn Hewson as the chief executive of Lockheed Martin Corp. and Phebe Novakovic as chief executive of General Dynamics Corp.<\/p>\n