Boeing’s 737 head announces retirement

The head of Boeing’s (BA) 737 jetliner program, Scott Campbell, has announced his retirement, Bloomberg reported. Campbell, who is also the Seattle plant’s site manager, will step down at the end of this year for personal reasons. He has been with the aircraft maker for almost three decades and was instrumental in shaping the company’s line of products.

The announcement comes at a time when the Chicago-based company is struggling to meet 737 deliveries as suppliers struggle to meet the increased production demands. Only last week, it was reported that about 40 unfinished 737 airliners were parked idle at the Renton, Washington plant as parts arrived late or out of sequence.

As per a memo sent to Boeing staff, General Manager and Vice President of 777X Eric Lindblad will replace Campbell, while Lindblad’s duties will be taken over by Boeing Research and Technology executive Josh Binder.

Related: Boeing’s Q3 deliveries to be hit as suppliers struggle with rising demand

Lindblad has been overlooking the development of 777X’s right from its initial stages and has played a key role in building a $1 billion facility to manufacture airline wings from spun-carbon fiber.

Campbell and Lindblad will reportedly work together to tackle the 737 production bottlenecks currently being faced in the Renton plant.  The 737 is one of Boeing’s profitable airliners and the production delays are expected to dent the company’s deliveries in the third quarter.