Boeing boss quits in shock move

The boss of Boeing, the world’s biggest aerospace company, surprisingly quit today.

Phil Condit, chairman and chief executive of the Chicago based company, had been with Boeing for more than 35 years.

The board accepted his resignation after deciding “a new structure for the leadership of the company is needed,” according to a statement.

Condit’s exit comes a week after Boeing unexpectedly sacked its top financial executive for unethical conduct, saying he negotiated the hiring of a missile defence expert while she worked for the US government and could influence Boeing contracts.

The Pentagon’s Office of the Inspector General is investigating the circumstances surrounding the expert’s departure from government service.

Boeing named Lewis Platt, former Hewlett-Packard president, as non-executive chairman and Harry Stonecipher, former Boeing vice chairman, as president and chief executive, effective immediately.

“Boeing is advancing on several of the most important programmes in its history and I offered my resignation as a way to put the distractions and controversies of the past year behind us, and to place the focus on our performance,” Condit said.