Boeing’s CEO search is not going well

Boeing’s search for a new CEO does not appear to be going well. Several people once thought to be ideal candidates are spurning offers to run the plane manufacturer, The Wall Street Journal reports. That list reportedly includes Larry Culp, CEO of GE Aerospace; Stephanie Pope, COO of Boeing; and Pat Shanahan, CEO of fuselage supplier Spirit Aerosystems.

The company is in trouble. A piece of fuselage fell off one of its planes mid-flight in January, drawing a lot of scrutiny from regulators and investors. The company’s stock is down 29% for the year. CEO Dave Calhoun said in March that he will resign by the end of 2024, which is why there’s a CEO search in the first place.

In a research note last week, Bank of America analyst Ronald Epstein said that Boeing was “too big to fail,” because it plays such a big role as one of the two main producers of commercial airliners. “Boeing remains uniquely positioned to the robust air traffic demand environment, with the moat that the duopoly creates,” he wrote.

“However,” Epstein said, “on the other hand, turning around operations could take time and uncertainties remain in the near future.” The search for a new CEO is one of those uncertainties.

Boeing did not immediately return a request for comment.