Boeing ousts 737 Max chief in shake-up as blowout fallout mounts

Boeing has ousted the leader of the 737 Max program at its Renton plant and reshuffled its leadership team at the Commercial Airplanes division, effective immediately.

The moves come more than a month after a Renton, Washington-assembled Max 9 saw a fuselage panel blow out of an Alaska Airlines flight departing Portland.

Investigators contend key bolts were missing from the plane prior to the Jan. 5 blowout, a failure that has increased scrutiny of quality control at Boeing and its suppliers and put intense pressure on company leadership.