In March 2024, Boeing announced how the company’s CEO and Board Chair would both be stepping down, given what a complete mess the company has been. After an exhaustive search lasting several months, Boeing has just announced who has been picked as the new CEO.
In this post:
Robert “Kelly” Ortberg is new Boeing CEO
As of August 8, 2024, Robert “Kelly” Ortberg will become the new President and CEO of Boeing, and he’ll also serve on the company’s Board of Directors. Ortberg succeeds Dave Calhoun, who held that position since January 2020.
64-year-old Ortberg brings over 35 years of aerospace leadership to this position. He began his career in 1983 as an engineer at Texas Instruments, and then joined Rockwell Collins in 1987, as a program manager, and held increasingly important leadership positions at the company prior to becoming CEO in 2013.
After leading Rockwell Collins for five years, he steered the company’s integration with United Technologies and RTX, until his retirement from RTX in 2021. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering of the University of Iowa.
Here’s how Boeing Board Chair Steven Mollenkopf describes this appointment:
“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. 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.”
“The Board would also like to thank Dave Calhoun for his strong leadership at Boeing, first as Chair and then as CEO, when he stepped in to steer the company through the challenges of recent years.”
Meanwhile here’s what Ortberg had to say about his new role:
“I’m extremely honored and humbled to join this iconic company. 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.”
Boeing’s new CEO has his work cut out for him!
I’m no expert on the aerospace industry at large (beyond what I know about commercial aircraft), and I can’t say I knew all that much about Ortberg. What does stand out to me, and what I very much appreciate, is that Boeing finally picked an outsider for this important leadership position.
I hope Ortberg can take a fresh, big picture look at the company, and focus on what’s best for Boeing in the long run, rather than what’s best for the company’s short term stock price (and hopefully the company finds some way to incentivize him accordingly).
When Boeing fired its previous CEO in 2019 and appointed Calhoun, I thought that was a questionable choice, since he wasn’t a company outsider. It was clear Boeing needed a change, and at the time, Boeing claimed that Calhoun had “a proven track record of strong leadership, and he recognizes the challenges we must confront.”
Obviously that didn’t turn out to be the case, as Boeing’s reputation is basically as bad as it has ever been, and for good reason.
Bottom line
After a search of several months, Boeing has appointed Robert “Kelly” Ortberg as CEO. He’s the former CEO of Rockwell Collins, and has decades of experience in aerospace. Here’s to hoping that he’s the right guy to get the job done, and can change the company’s culture.
What do you make of Boeing’s new CEO appointment?
Not from GE … about time
If it's Boeing, I'm not going
I did work with Rockwell Collins for some time. What was frustrating to me at that time (coming from a commercial background where we rushed things to the market hoping version 3.0 would be credible!) was the utter process oriented, document intensive anal culture of Rockwell Collins then. I recall a Collin’s engineer telling me disapprovingly (of our commercial culture) that in their world their products don’t crash!
If Kelly can recreate the culture...
I did work with Rockwell Collins for some time. What was frustrating to me at that time (coming from a commercial background where we rushed things to the market hoping version 3.0 would be credible!) was the utter process oriented, document intensive anal culture of Rockwell Collins then. I recall a Collin’s engineer telling me disapprovingly (of our commercial culture) that in their world their products don’t crash!
If Kelly can recreate the culture of Rockwell Collins at Boeing we would once again have a great company on our hands. It’s clear given Kelly’s age and the monumental size of the problem at Boeing even if Kelly is successful the rewards will likely go to the management team that follows him. Wish him all the best!
My hope for this guy, is that he starts to present a VERY clear vision for the replacement of the 737.... and for raising quality of current production.
We'll know if they are serious about returning to their engineering/innovation roots if they move the HQ back to Seattle. Staying Arlington, VA, means they will be repeating the old cultural issues that got them into this mess.
According to the Seattle Times, Ortberg will be based in Seattle. Not an official HQ move yet, but an encouraging sign!
Yep, confirmed:
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/boeing-chief-coming-home-new-ceo-will-be-based-in-seattle/
Boeing has not confirmed nor denied speculation that an HQ repatriation will follow.... so this could get interesting.
While I think it's a good thing that the new CEO has an engineering background I am highly skeptical that it will produce the dramatic shift in culture that is needed at Boeing. There is a huge emphasis on maximizing shareholder return above all else in Corporate America and CEO pay is typically tied to the stock price. So long as that remains the primary goal Boeing doesn't have the incentive to make decisions that...
While I think it's a good thing that the new CEO has an engineering background I am highly skeptical that it will produce the dramatic shift in culture that is needed at Boeing. There is a huge emphasis on maximizing shareholder return above all else in Corporate America and CEO pay is typically tied to the stock price. So long as that remains the primary goal Boeing doesn't have the incentive to make decisions that produce long term value. As Charlie Munger famously said, "Show me the incentive, and I will show you the outcome." While I hope I am wrong on this I can't help but think that appointing an engineer is a performative gesture.
This is a coup for Boeing and a very positive sign that the company will turn things around which is exactly what the US and world needs.
Although he was retired from RTX, let's not forget that the Pratt and Whitney Geared Turbofan, which is suffering from major issues, is a product of RTX Corp.
Is Geared Turbofan engine issue a design flaw or a symptom of bad management and lack of care at P&W?
@UncleRonnie - having been a customer of both Boeing and PW in recent years, I assure you that the apathy at PW is in a whole different league. At least Boeing pretends to still care.
Rockwell Collins is in the radio business not the geared turbo fan business
All I know about him is that Rockwell Collins is one of the best companies I've ever worked with. As a supplier to the industry they always treated me with transparency and respect. The culture there was excellent down to employees on the line.
However, instituting that type of change at Boeing is a heavy lift. There needs to be some major housecleaning before significant progress can be made.
What a mess. Calhoun at the Senate meeting was hilariously sad. Poor guy, do not know how he sleeps at night..... oh I guess he simply dreams in his $30,000,000USD + a year salary.
Not to mention the golden parachute he's supposedly getting, despite his tenure being less-than-worthless.
Man, to be able to fail upwards, like these cats do!
I wish him the best of luck, but there is a lot more deadwood in the C-Suite that needs to follow Calhoun out the door before things can begin to improve.
Forget the C-Suite, Boeing's entire board needs to be flushed out.
I cannot understand how the shareholders tolerate anyone from the McNerney, Muilenburg, and Calhoun eras...
...the first one came up with MAX concept and executed it criminally (why's he not in jail?);
...the second handled the crashes so terribly and destroyed the company's brand reputation; and
...the latter's only accomplishment, was ceding the entire mid-market to Airbus for at least the next...
Forget the C-Suite, Boeing's entire board needs to be flushed out.
I cannot understand how the shareholders tolerate anyone from the McNerney, Muilenburg, and Calhoun eras...
...the first one came up with MAX concept and executed it criminally (why's he not in jail?);
...the second handled the crashes so terribly and destroyed the company's brand reputation; and
...the latter's only accomplishment, was ceding the entire mid-market to Airbus for at least the next decade and a half. Toulouse should send him a fruit basket.
Larry Kellner was the Board's sacrificial lamb, but there needs to be a complete housecleaning of the do-nothings who facilitated that era, as the company has lost more than TWICE the money it would've spent (by its own estimations) on a clean-sheet 737/757 replacement!
Finally, an engineer!
This was exactly my first thought!
I worked for many years for a company that transitioned from being run by knowledgeable and experienced engineers who understood the business to being run by financial types focused on its stock price (like Boeing). The company's accomplishments, reputation, and morale declined dramatically. It was sad to watch.
Keep in mind that Muilenburg was also an engineer... so that, in itself, doesn't really solve anything.
We need to see to what level he prioritizes engineering, vis-a-vis finance.