Boeing taps Muilenberg as CEO McNerney to retire

Boeing named Dennis Muilenburg, a 30-year company veteran, as chief executive on Tuesday as the US aerospace giant prepares for the retirement of current CEO James McNerney.

The Boeing board of directors elected Muilenburg, 51, who has served as Boeing president and chief operation officer since 2013, to become the company's 10th CEO, starting on July 1.

McNerney, 65, who has headed the company for the past 10 years, will stay on as the chairman of the board of directors, helping ensure the smooth transfer of CEO responsibilities to Muilenburg.

Muilenburg keeps his position as president, and has been elected to the board.

"Dennis is an extremely capable, experienced and respected leader with an immense passion for our company, our people, and our products and services," McNerney said in the statement.

"As CEO, Dennis will bring a rich combination of management skills, customer focus, business and engineering acumen, a can-do spirit and the will to win. With a deep appreciation of our past accomplishments, and the energy and skill to drive those to come, he is well-suited to lead our very talented Boeing team into its second century," McNerney said.

Under his current responsibilities, Muilenburg shared with McNerney oversight of day-to-day business operations. Prior to that he served as president and CEO of Boeing Defense Space & Security.

Muilenburg joined the company as an intern in 1985. He earned a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from Iowa State University and a master's in aeronautics and astronautics from the University of Washington.

Boeing announced the moves after the markets closed. Shares were down 0.4 percent in after-hours trade, after closing down 0.9 percent at $144.43.