Harry Stonecipher, the man brought out of retirement to restore Boeing's reputation, was ousted as chief executive yesterday for having an affair with an employee.

The departure is a serious blow to Boeing, working hard to restore its reputation. A series of executives has left under a cloud, including Phil Condit, former chief executive, and Mike Sears, finance director. The episode also raises questions about how far corporate ethics should reach into personal lives.

The ignominious end to Mr Stonecipher's 45-year career in the aerospace industry flowed from an anonymous internal letter sent 10 days ago. The letter to several board members and ethics leaders included allegations about an executive affair.

Lew Platt, non-executive chairman, said the relationship had begun in January. He said: "It was not the fact that he was having an affair - that is not a violation of our code of conduct. But as we explored the circumstances of the affair, it raised issues of poor judgment."

"He [Stonecipher] was the staunchest supporter of the code of conduct. He drew a bright line that even minor violations would not be tolerated. And we decided there were violations."

The company said that the relationship with the unidentified female female employee, who did not report directly to Stonecipher, was consensual.

Mr Stonecipher had returned to Boeing in 2002, at 67, to lead a turnaround after scandals such as the misuse of proprietary information from Lockheed Martin to win a military satellite contract.

James Bell, (56), will succeed Mr Stonecipher on an interim basis, becoming the company's first- African-American CEO. He is not a candidate to take the job permanently.

- (Financial Times Service)