Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg resigns as MAX 737 crisis drags on

Boeing's CEO resigned amid ongoing problems at the company over the troubled MAX 737 aircraft.

The Chicago manufacturer said Monday that Dennis Muilenburg stepped down immediately. The board's current chairman David Calhoun officially will take over on Jan. 13.

The board said a change in leadership was necessary to restore confidence in the company as it works to repair relationships with regulators and stakeholders.

The MAX was grounded worldwide in March after the second of two crashes of its jet, killing a combined total of 346 people.

Muilenburg was born and raised in Sioux Center and is a 1986 graduate of Iowa State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, according to an ISU College of Engineering website.

He delivered the university's commencement address and received an honorary doctor of science degree in May 2017.

The leadership change follows Boeing's announcement last week that it would halt MAX production in January.

United Airlines then said it would pull the Boeing 737 MAX from its flight schedule until June.

The same day, Spirit AeroSystems, which makes fuselages, said it would end deliveries intended for the MAX in January, and Boeing's new Starliner capsule went off course on a planned trip to the International Space Station.

Board member Lawrence Kellner will become non-executive chairman of the board.