Boeing's Condit steps down

Phil Condit, chairman and chief executive officer of the Boeing Co., has resigned, saying he would be a distraction in light of the company's recent troubles.

Boeing has been roiled by controversy during the past year. Most recently the company fired Michael Sears, its chief financial officer, and Darleen Druyun, a former Air Force official who was hired as general manager of Boeing's Missile Defense Systems unit. Part of that incident involved Boeing winning a deal to lease tankers to the Air Force. That deal is likely to be scuttled in favor of purchasing the planes.

In July, Boeing also had contracts for rocket launches taken away after proprietary documents belonging to rival Lockheed Martin Corp. were found in its possession.

Lewis Platt was named nonexecutive chairman, and Harry Stonecipher was tapped to be president and CEO.

Platt is a retired chairman of Hewlett-Packard Co., and Stonecipher retired from Boeing in 2002 after working in several roles including vice chairman, president and chief operating officer.

Boeing of Chicago has 163,000 employees and reported 2002 revenue of $54 billion. The company was ranked No. 4 on the Washington Technology's Top 100 list.