NEW YORK - Boeing’s decision to strip Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg of his role as chairman is too little, too late. It’s not enough to fix the cultural problems at the $211 billion airplane maker. Wells Fargo’s drawn-out experience shows it will take time, and eventually an outsider’s perspective.

Splitting the two top roles does make sense. It lets Muilenburg get on with the full-time job of getting the grounded 737 MAX flying again, developing new planes and addressing cultural and management flaws that ultimately contributed to two fatal crashes. And new Chairman David Calhoun can provide oversight, while helping out with investor and regulatory relationships.

Yet Calhoun was already Boeing’s independent lead director, so it’s unclear how much extra power he will now wield. Furthermore, he has been on the company’s board since 2009. His long tenure may give him sway over other directors, but it also means he has been at Boeing throughout the 737 MAX’s trip from drawing board to parking lot, and he could not stop the firm’s slide into trouble.

Events at Wells Fargo suggest more radical changes are needed, even if they won’t happen overnight. The bank had a series of scandals culminating in 2016 revelations its retail banking division created 2 million fake customer accounts. In the wake of embarrassing congressional hearings, the firm jettisoned boss John Stumpf, appointed Tim Sloan, a bank veteran, as CEO, and appointed the lead independent director chairman.

The bank named a new chair in 2017. Then earlier this year Sloan resigned, with the board saying it wanted an outsider to replace him. It eventually found one: former Bank of New York Mellon leader Charles Scharf, who will become CEO next week.

Like Sloan at Wells Fargo, Muilenburg doesn’t bear all the blame at Boeing, since he became CEO after the 737 MAX was already well into development. And he has taken actions like creating a safety committee on the board and reorganizing the company to bring engineers and safety concerns to the fore. But with nearly 35 years of service he is ill equipped to take a fresh look at the company’s culture.

In that light, the chairman-CEO split was overdue, but isn’t sufficient. Boeing’s board, investors and employees have a long journey ahead of them.

CONTEXT NEWS

- Boeing said on Oct. 11 that its board had separated the roles of chairman and chief executive. Dennis Muilenburg, who previously held both titles, continues as CEO. David Calhoun, who was previously independent lead director, is now non-executive chairman.

- The board said splitting the roles “will enable Muilenburg to focus full time on running the company as it works to return the 737 MAX safely to service, ensure full support to Boeing's customers around the world, and implement changes to sharpen Boeing's focus on product and services safety.”

- The 737 MAX has been grounded since March, following two crashes that killed 346 people.

- Muilenburg is set to testify in front of a congressional panel on Oct. 30.

(Editing by Richard Beales and Amanda Gomez)

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