- Boeing (NYSE:BA) has appointed Robert K. “Kelly” Ortberg as director, president and chief executive officer, effective Aug. 8, in a bid to turn around its ailing operations
- Ortberg has excelled over a 35-year career in the aerospace industry, including more than five years as CEO of Rockwell Collins
- Boeing develops, manufactures and services commercial airplanes, defense products and space systems for customers in more than 150 countries
- Boeing stock has given back 19.22 per cent year-over-year and 43.18 per cent since 2019
Boeing (NYSE:BA) has appointed Robert K. “Kelly” Ortberg as director, president and chief executive officer, effective Aug. 8, in a bid to turn around its ailing operations.
Ortberg has excelled over a 35-year career in the aerospace industry. He cut his teeth as an engineer at Texas Instruments in 1983 and moved on to program management at Rockwell Collins in 1987 where he climbed the ladder to president and CEO by 2013. After five years at the helm of Rockwell Collins, Ortberg oversaw the company’s integration with United Technologies and RTX until retiring from RTX in 2021.
He has since held numerous leadership roles, including director at RTX and Aptiv, a global industry leader in vehicle systems architecture. Ortberg is also a former chairman of the Aerospace Industries Association Board of Governors.
Ortberg (pictured) will succeed Dave Calhoun, who has served as president and CEO since January 2020 and as a director since 2009, and will be tasked with addressing a long list of shortcoming at the company. These include:
- Net income losses over the past five years combining for more than US$20 billion.
- A pair of crashes tied to its 737 Max aircraft in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people, in addition to a door plug incident in January that has delayed regulatory approval for increased production.
- A potential strike in September involving more than 30,000 hourly workers at commercial plants in Washington state.
- More than 138 whistleblower reports to U.S. Congress and the Federal Aviation Administration about questionable practices at the company.
Results for Q2 2024, also reported Wednesday, detail more than US$1.4 billion in net losses, though management remains optimistic about stabilizing operations and generating shareholder value from the company’s backlog of more than US$516 billion, including more than 5,400 commercial aircraft.
Leadership insights
“The board conducted a thorough and extensive search process over the last several months to select the next CEO of Boeing and Kelly has the right skills and experience to lead Boeing in its next chapter,” Steven Mollenkopf, Boeing’s chairman of the board, said in a statement. “Kelly is an experienced leader who is deeply respected in the aerospace industry, with a well-earned reputation for building strong teams and running complex engineering and manufacturing companies. We look forward to working with him as he leads Boeing through this consequential period in its long history.”
“I’m extremely honoured and humbled to join this iconic company,” Ortberg said. “Boeing has a tremendous and rich history as a leader and pioneer in our industry, and I’m committed to working together with the more than 170,000 dedicated employees of the company to continue that tradition, with safety and quality at the forefront. There is much work to be done, and I’m looking forward to getting started.”
About Boeing
Boeing develops, manufactures and services commercial airplanes, defence products and space systems for customers in more than 150 countries.
Boeing stock (NYSE:BA) is up by 3.25 per cent, trading at US$192.94 per share as of 11:42 am ET. The stock has given back 19.22 per cent year-over-year and 43.18 per cent since 2019.
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(Top photo: Boeing)