Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg to Forgo 2019 Bonuses After 737 Max Crashes

Boeing's new chairman David Calhoun Tuesday supported CEO Dennis Muilenburg, noting that he'd offered to forgo all bonuses this year and saying that from the viewpoint of the company's board, he'd done "everything right" in the wake of two deadly crashes involving the Boeing 737 Max.

"From the vantage point of our board, Dennis has done everything right," Calhoun told CNBC's "Squawk Box."

"Remember, Dennis didn't create this problem. From the beginning, he knew that the MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System) could and should have been done better and he has led a program to rewrite MCAS to alleviate all of those conditions that ultimately beset two unfortunate crews and the families and victims."

Last week, lawmakers grilled Muilenburg about his $23.4 million compensation, including a $13.1 million incentive bonus in 2018. The bonus came after the October 2018 crash of a 737 Max in Indonesia and another about five months later in Ethiopia. The crashes, which killed all 346 people on the flights, were blamed on the MCAS flight-control system.

Boeing doesn't plan to take back Muilenburg's 2018 compensation. Calhoun said Muilenburg called him Saturday morning to say he'd forgo his bonuses for 2019, "which of course is most of your compensation."

However, Muilenburg, who has worked for Boeing (BA) for more than 30 years, could have to go without the bonus pay for even longer, said Calhoun.

Calhoun said the congressional grilling was difficult for Muilenburg, but it was life-changing for him to hear from the victims' families the night after the first hearing.

"He listened for several hours to every story, every story the victims' families presented to him," said Calhoun.

The manufacturer plans to continue using the 737 Max brand name, Calhoun said.

"This airplane has been updated several times over the course of its tenure," said Calhoun. "It is out there always with the latest technology and safety requirements in mind, so it is a modern airplane. This control system will be fixed and it will be safe and it will have been tested like no other control system at least in my history in the aviation industry."

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