Who follows Stonecipher?

USA Today says Boeing will almost certainly seek an internal candidate to replace Harry Stonecipher. UPI says Boeing almost certainly seek an external candidate. Go figure.

Most of the smart guys say Alan Mulally’s a leading candidate. Makes sense to me — he’s an accomplished engineer and a team builder, and the only skeleton in his closet seems to be that weird hug he gave John Travolta at that Qantas delivery ceremony a couple of years ago. The guy’s got rock-star charisma, for a jet-builder, and he’s a “heritage Boeing” guy, which could be important, given the fact that so many of Boeing’s recent troubles seem to stem from former McDonnell Douglas people.

Here are some links on the topic:

http://www.suntimes.com/output/business/cst-fin-boeing09.html

http://www.usatoday.com/money/biztravel/2005-03-08-boeing-usat_x.htm

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-bz.successor08mar08,1,1903033.story?coll=bal-business-headlines&ctrack=2&cset=true

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=7843780&type=businessNews

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1045490.cms