Elon Musk is beefing with Boeing again, calling out its CEO and saying he should be able to ‘design aircraft, not spreadsheets’

• Elon Musk is firing shots at Boeing, accusing the company of losing touch with its engineering roots.
• The aviation giant has had a bad few months, and is facing questions over its safety standards.
• Musk's SpaceX is competing with Boeing to transport astronauts to the International Space Station.

Elon Musk is no stranger to picking fights with rivals — and now he's turning his fire on Boeing.

The SpaceX founder attacked outgoing Boeing CEO David Calhoun on Tuesday, accusing the beleaguered aircraft company of losing touch with its engineering roots in a post on X.

"The CEO of an aircraft company should know how to design aircraft, not spreadsheets," Musk wrote in response to a post about Calhoun's accountancy degree.

Calhoun, who does not have an engineering background and instead has a bachelor's degree in accounting from Virginia Tech University, announced in March that he would step down at the end of the year, amid the ongoing fallout from a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane losing a door plug in midair.

Since Calhoun announced his resignation, the aviation industry has debated whether Boeing should appoint someone with an engineering background rather than a finance background as its next boss.

For instance, Tim Clark, the president of Middle Eastern airline Emirates, said in March that Boeing needs to appoint an engineer as its new CEO.

The aviation giant has reportedly struggled to find a replacement as it faces a string of whistleblower allegations criticizing its safety practices.

Boeing may soon face criminal charges after the Department of Justice accused it of violating a settlement agreement over two 737 Max 8 crashes that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019. The company faces a separate criminal investigation into the Alaska Airlines blowout.

It's not the first time Musk has picked a fight with Boeing. The billionaire previously claimed the US aviation giant had "too many non-technical managers" ahead of the much-delayed first crewed launch of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft this month.

Both Boeing and SpaceX won NASA contracts to transport astronauts to the International Space Station in 2014.

Despite being awarded only $2.6 billion compared to Boeing's $4.2 billion, SpaceX managed to beat the aircraft manufacturer, launching its first crewed spaceflight to the ISS in 2020.

Boeing is attempting to catch up, but continues to run into problems with Starliner. The $1.5 billion spacecraft's return home from the ISS has been delayed indefinitely after five helium leaks were detected.

Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment made outside normal working hours.