Stephanie Pope is the new Boeing COO as declared on Monday. Boeing named long-serving insider, an industry veteran Stephanie Pope to the newly created role of (COO) chief operating officer. This will likely make her one of the top contenders to succeed David Calhoun as CEO when he decides to step down from the role.
Stephanie Pope, Boeing’s new COO currently heads the Boeing’s after-market business, Boeing Global Services (BGS). The only segment to report a profit through the first nine months of this year as supply chain issues and cost overruns were a drag on its other two units, commercial airplanes and defense.
Stephanie Pope as Boeing COO
The company said Stephanie Pope would assume the job of being Boeing’s new COO effective Jan 1 and that the heads of commercial unit and defense businesses would report to her. Stephanie Pope’s successor to lead BGS will be named at a later date.
Who is Stephanie Pope?
Here are some details about Pope and her near three-decade-long career with Boeing.
Stephanie Pope’s education
She has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Southwest Missouri State University and a Master of Business Administration from Lindenwood University. Stephanie Pope seems to have all the smarts to carry on the role with panache and aptitude. She comes with vast experience of over 30 years.
Stephanie Pope’s career
Pope joined Boeing in 1994 and rose through the ranks to take on senior-level roles at all three of the company’s key businesses.
Before becoming the CEO of Boeing Global Services (BGS) in April 2022, she was the finance chief of the commercial airplanes business from December 2020 to March 2022. Prior to that, she was the CFO of BGS from January 2017 to December 2020.
BGS’ growth under Pope’s leadership
1994: Pope, who joined Boeing in 1994, has been involved with all three of the company’s key businesses through these years.
She was finance chief of the commercial airplanes business and vice president of finance and controller of Boeing’s Defense, Space & Security segment in her previous roles.
2022: She took over as head of BGS in April 2022. The business provides services such as engineering, maintenance and modifications, upgrades and conversions as well as spare parts to Boeing’s commercial and defense customers.
2023: BGS is Boeing’s only business to report a profit in the first nine months of 2023, as the company’s commercial unit struggled with supply chain issues, while its defense businesses faced cost overruns.
BGS revenue growth under Pope
BGS revenue under Pope rose 9% to $4.81 billion for the quarter through Sep 30 this year, while its operating margins fell to 16.3% from 16.5%.
The quarter before she took over in April 2022, the unit’s revenue was $4.31 billion, while the operating margin was 14.6%.
The business provides services such as engineering, maintenance and modifications, upgrades and conversions, as well as spare parts to Boeing’s commercial and defense customers.
David Calhoun on Boeing’s new COO
Calhoun, who has guided Boeing through one of its most turbulent phases in decades after overlapping safety and pandemic-induced crises, is expected to remain in the top job until around 2025-2026 to oversee the company’s financial recovery, sources said.
Boeing in April 2021 extended the required retirement age to 70 from 65 for Calhoun, giving him enough time to steer the company through its recovery process after a series of missteps. In February, Boeing’s board granted Calhoun a $5 million incentive that will be fully vested in 2025.
“Stephanie brings tremendous operational, financial and customer experience to this (COO) role,” Calhoun said in a statement.
Opinions on Boeing’s new COO
“The move could be setting her up as a possible successor to Dave Calhoun as CEO,” Jefferies analysts Sheila Kahyaoglu in a note.
Under Pope’s leadership, BGS has been “a superstar unit at Boeing in terms of operational excellence,” she added.
Her promotion to COO “puts the potential future CEO in front of investors, customers and stakeholders ahead of any official transition.”
“Having generated all the company’s profits in recent years as head of the Services division, she is now in pole position to succeed Dave Calhoun as CEO,” Vertical Research Partners analyst Robert Stallard wrote in a note.
“Stephanie brings tremendous operational, financial and customer experience to this (COO) role,” Boeing CEO Calhoun said in a statement.
Stephanie Pope’s future
Pope will be the first woman CEO in Boeing’s history if she is named to the top job. While it’s possible Boeing could still look outside the company for its next CEO, giving Pope oversight of all operations shows she’s seen as the top candidate.
She will reportedly receive a base annual salary of $1.2 million, an annual incentive pay target of an additional $2 million, and a long-term incentive target bonus of another $10 million, depending on meeting preset goals over a three-year term. Pope owns close to 35,000 shares in Boeing, which is worth a price today of nearly $8.7 million.
Boeing’s board met in recent days to discuss top executives that could eventually succeed Calhoun, sources said. As per report, also in the running for Boeing’s COO were CFO Brian West and the head of its commercial airplanes business Stan Deal.
