Stephanie Pope, a veteran of the company, was appointed to the newly created role of chief operating officer by Boeing.

This puts her in a strong position to succeed CEO David Calhoun should he decide to retire from the position.

As supply chain problems and cost overruns hurt the company's other two divisions, civil aircraft manufacturing and defense, Pope is currently in charge of Boeing Global Services (BGS), the company's aftermarket division. BGS is the only division to report a profit through the first nine months of this year.

Following overlapping safety and pandemic-related crises, Calhoun led Boeing through one of its most turbulent periods in decades. According to a Wall Street Journal report on Sunday, Calhoun is anticipated to hold the position of top executive for at least another year.

After a string of mishaps, the planemaker decided to raise the mandatory retirement age for Calhoun from 65 to 70 in April 2021. This move gave Calhoun ample time to oversee the company's recovery. Boeing announced that Pope would take over on January 1st and that she would be subordinate to the leaders of the defense and commercial aircraft industries. It stated that a later time will be used to select her replacement as BGS's leader.

Pope has been involved with all three of Boeing's major businesses over the years since joining the company in 1994. Her prior positions included controller of Boeing's Defense, Space & Security division and vice president of finance. She was also chief financial officer of the commercial aircraft business.

She became the BGS's new leader in April 2022. For Boeing's commercial and defense clients, the company offers services such engineering, maintenance and modifications, upgrades and conversions, as well as spare components. Pope will become Boeing's first female CEO if she is appointed to the role.