BA Boeing Co

By Doug Cameron 

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (December 27, 2019).

Boeing Co. said Thursday that longtime general counsel Mike Luttig, a close adviser to ousted CEO Dennis Muilenburg, planned to retire next week as the aerospace giant reshuffles its executive ranks.

Mr. Luttig served as Boeing's general counsel from 2006 until May.

Since then, the 65-year-old has been advising the board on strategic matters and leading its legal efforts related to the twin crashes of 737 MAX jetliners that led to the plane's grounding and the biggest crisis in the company's 103-year history. The accidents took a total of 346 lives and have been linked to flawed design work.

Boeing said Mr. Luttig's retirement had been long considered. His departure is the fourth from Boeing's executive council. Mr. Muilenburg resigned this week, replaced initially by longtime financial chief Greg Smith and then on Jan. 13 by David Calhoun, a veteran industry executive who's been on the board since 2009.

Others that have left the council since the crashes include Kevin McAllister, who was removed as head of the company's jetliner business, and Anne Toulouse, who is stepping down at year's end as senior vice president of communications.

Before joining Boeing, Mr. Luttig served 15 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and was once in the running to be nominated as a Supreme Court justice.

In 2018, Mr. Luttig's total pay at Boeing, including bonuses and stock awards, was valued at $7.8 million.

Global aviation regulators grounded the MAX in March after a fatal accident in Ethiopia -- the second one for the MAX, following one less than five months earlier in Indonesia.

Corrections & Amplifications Boeing general counsel Mike Luttig's surname was misspelled as Luttif in a photo caption in an earlier version of this article. (Dec. 26, 2019)

Write to Doug Cameron at doug.cameron@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 27, 2019 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)

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