Recast with details from memo and background

Feb 21 (Reuters) - Boeing's BA.N longtime veteran and chief aerospace safety officer, Mike Delaney, will retire later this year, according to a memo seen by Reuters on Friday.

The aerospace company in the next few weeks will appoint a successor to Delaney who has been working with Boeing for nearly four decades, company chief Kelly Ortberg told employees in an internal message.

Delaney, appointed in 2021, bolstered Boeing's safety practices, the message said.

"His contributions over the decades have advanced our global aviation safety strategy, helped our industry safely resume global air travel during the pandemic and defined how we will develop a future generation of commercial airplanes," Ortberg said in the message.

The Air Current first reported the news.

The U.S. planemaker has been under scrutiny after a series of crises involving safety, including when a door panel flew off a new Alaska Airlines ALK.N 737 MAX 9 in mid-air last year .

The door panel incident resulted in the Federal Aviation Administration maintaining tougher oversight of the company.

(Reporting by Mrinmay Dey and David Shepardson; Editing by Sandra Maler)

((mrinmay.dey@tr.com; +91 7362903319;))