Boeing shareholders approve CEO compensation as company faces investigations, potential prosecution

Boeing shareholders on Friday approved CEO David Calhoun's $32.8 million compensation and heard leaders explain what the troubled aircraft maker is doing to improve the quality and safety of its planes after a door plug blew off a Boeing 737 Max jetliner in January.

Calhoun said the company is finishing a 90-day plan for fixing its manufacturing problems — a report the Federal Aviation Administration demanded after the door-plug blowout.

The CEO added that the company is still working to complete an acquisition of key supplier Spirit AeroSystems, but he gave no deadline for completion. Spirit makes fuselages for Max jets and has been a source of manufacturing flaws.

The shareholder meeting was conducted online and heavily scripted. A moderator posed a handful of shareholder questions, which Calhoun and Steven Mollenkopf, the new chairman of Boeing's Board of Directors, fielded by seeming to read their answers. None of the questions were too pointed.

Shareholders approved an advisory measure on executive compensation and rejected shareholder resolutions dealing with subjects such as pay gaps for women and people of color, and the company's ties to China. Vote counts were not immediately provided.

Boeing faces multiple investigations since the Jan. 5 door plug blowout on a Max operated by Alaska Airlines. It could also face criminal prosecution for allegedly violating terms of a settlement with the Justice Department after two deadly Max crashes in 2018 and 2019.

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