Boeing on Wednesday named aerospace industry veteran Kelly Ortberg as its new president and CEO after a months-long search, tasking the former Rockwell Collins executive with the monumental job of turning around the struggling planemaker.
Ortberg, 64, will start on August 8 and face a multitude of issues, including reviving jet production and rebuilding trust with regulators, the industry and the flying public. Shares rose 2.9 per cent before the bell.
Boeing, one of two global planemakers, has been mired in a reputational and safety crisis after a January 5 mid-air panel blowout on an Alaska Airlines-operated MAX 9 jet carrying 171 passengers. It posted a $1.4 billion loss in the second quarter as it continues to burn cash.
The accident eventually led to the resignation of CEO Dave Calhoun and departure of the company’s previous board president as regulators took aim at the safety culture that was already shaken by previous crashes in 2018 and 2019.
Shortly after the accident, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) barred Boeing from expanding production of its cash-cow 737 MAX family of jets without estimating how long the limitation will last.
The US aviation regulator capped production to 38 jets per month, though Reuters has reported that Boeing has been producing jets during some weeks at a much lower level.
The regulator on February 28 gave Boeing 90 days to develop a comprehensive plan to address “systemic quality-control issues”, which the company submitted in May.
However, the FAA’s administrator has said Boeing would not be immediately allowed to increase 737 MAX production.
“During his leadership at Collins he was well liked by employees and direct reports and very personable,” Jefferies analysts said in a note from earlier this week, after industry publication the Air Current reported Ortberg was a serious contender.
Jefferies said he was a “tough negotiator” dealing with a diverse set of customers and suppliers.
A mechanical engineer, Ortberg has more than 30 years of experience in aerospace and defence, including numerous executive roles. After five years leading Rockwell Collins, he steered the company’s integration with United Technologies and RTX until his retirement from RTX in 2021.
He pipped Patrick Shanahan to one of the top industrial jobs after the former Spirit Aero CEO was seen as a favourite to succeed Calhoun by some analysts and investors.
“There is much work to be done, and I’m looking forward to getting started,” Ortberg said in a statement.
During the second quarter, Boeing delivered a total of 92 aircraft, down 32 per cent from last year. It posted a loss of $2.33 a share, as its troubled defence and space business exacerbated the financial strain on the company.
The Defence, Space and Security unit, one of Boeing’s three main businesses, has lost billions of dollars in 2023 and 2022, which executives attributed to cost overruns on fixed-price contracts.
Such contracts have high margins but leave defence contractors vulnerable to inflationary pressures that have dented US corporate earnings in the last few years.
The planemaker used to bid aggressively for fixed-price contracts before the pandemic, but has now said it would pivot away from such contracts to stem losses at the business, which amounted to $1.76 billion last year.
Ahead of last week’s Farnborough Air Show, the unit’s head had said it was “significantly challenged” during the quarter.
Boeing CFO Brian West said in May the planemaker will burn rather than generate cash in 2024, hamstrung by lower jet deliveries compared to last year.