Boeing’s chief executive Dennis Muilenburg has resigned six days after the company said it was suspending production of the 737 Max aircraft.
Chief financial officer Greg Smith will serve as interim CEO until January, when chairman David Calhoun becomes chief executive and president.
The company said: "The board of directors decided that a change in leadership was necessary to restore confidence in the company moving forward as it works to repair relationships with regulators, customers, and all other stakeholders."
Reuters news agency reported Muilenburg may be eligible for nearly $39m in severance, although Boeing has not commented.
The change in leadership comes a week after Boeing announced it would temporarily halt production of the 737 Max aircraft in January.
The aircraft was grounded worldwide in March, following a second crash, in which all passengers of an Ethiopian Airlines flight died. Five months earlier, all passengers on a Lion Air flight died when the aircraft crashed near Indonesia.
In total, 346 people died in the two crashes.
