Earlier this week, Boeing announced that its Chief Engineer and Executive Vice President of Engineering, Test & Technology will retire this summer. After a career spanning more than 40 years, Greg Hyslop will leave the plane-making company in June.

Hyslop's time at Boeing spanned the manufacturer's aerospace and defense portfolio. He was on the Executive Council from 2016 before assuming his current role as the top engineer in 2019.

A successful four-decade career

The Boeing veteran also strengthened the company's engineering function and instituted next-generation design practices. In a statement, Hyslop reflected on his career.

"When I think about the impact Boeing has on the world, I feel incredibly lucky to have worked with the talented people who take on the aerospace industry's most difficult problems. That's what engineers do. We solve problems. We happily accept challenges and find solutions that change the world. I will always be proud to call myself a Boeing Engineer."

Boeing 787
Photo: Vaalaa/Shutterstock

In addition, Hyslop was the driving component behind Boeing realigning its engineers into one organization. According to the company, he championed the changes to empower other engineers.

"Greg has modeled Boeing's commitment to engineering excellence throughout his four decades here," said Dave Calhoun, Boeing's President, and CEO. "As we reshaped our company, Greg played an instrumental role in strengthening our engineering organization, positioning our engineers to innovate a future that is more digital, autonomous, and sustainable, and always with a focus on safety, quality, and integrity."

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Hyslop's successor

Howard McKenzie, the top engineer at Boeing's commercial airplanes unit, has been appointed to assume Hyslop's role, effective March 1st. McKenzie takes over leadership of the company's 57,000 engineers worldwide and will oversee all aspects of safety and the technical integrity of Boeing products and services.

Boeing 737-10 MAX
Photo: Boeing

McKenzie also reportedly assumes oversight of the planemaker's technology vision, strategy, and investment, while reporting to Calhoun and joining the company's executive council.

Before becoming the top engineer at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, McKenzie was Vice President and Chief Engineer of Boeing Global Services, the manufacturer's services and support business. He is a 35-year veteran of the company and has also served as Vice President of Boeing Test & Evaluation, the line of business responsible for testing, evaluating, and certifying new products.

Tackling the engineering challenges of today and tomorrow

Boeing said David Loffing would take over McKenzie's role. Loffing was the chief program engineer of the Boeing 777X aircraft. Since joining the company nearly 20 years ago, he has held roles of increasing responsibility, including engineering leadership positions across the planemaker's single and twin-aisle jet families and future airplane concepts.

"Howard and David are brilliant engineering minds who bring strong technical expertise and deep program experience to their new roles," said Calhoun. "They will join with Chief Technology Officer Todd Citron and Chief Aerospace Safety Officer Michael Delaney to lead our function into the future and help us tackle the engineering challenges of today and tomorrow."

The company said Hyslop will support the leadership transition through June as he assumes the role of chief engineer emeritus, reporting to Calhoun. He will also assist with program management, leadership development, and university relations efforts.