Boeing announces management shake-up amidst 737 aircraft crashes

Following two deadly crashes of its flagship 737 MAX aircraft, Boeing Co has announced management changes at its commercial airplanes unit on Tuesday, promoting some program leaders who will report directly to the division's chief, Ray Conner.

John Hamilton, formerly both vice president and chief engineer in Boeing's Commercial Airplanes division, will focus solely on the role of chief engineer while Lynne Hopper was named Boeing Commercial Airplanes vice president of engineering, replacing Hamilton as the airplane unit's top engineering leader.

The changes follow a reshuffle announced on Friday that elevated airplane programs senior vice president Pat Shanahan and airplane development senior vice president Scott Fancher to company-wide roles, reporting to Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg.

Lawmakers and safety experts are questioning how thoroughly regulators vetted the MAX model and how well pilots were trained on new features.

For now, global regulators have grounded the existing fleet of more than 300 MAX aircraft, and deliveries of nearly 5,000 more - worth well over $US500 billion ($A705 billion) - are on hold.