Boeing Taps New CEO to Navigate Cloudy Skies, Multibillion-Dollar Losses
Robert “Kelly” Ortberg, an industry veteran, will take over as Boeing’s CEO on Aug. 8, inheriting its financial woes.

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Boeing is hoping the third CEO in five years is the charm.
The aerospace manufacturing giant announced Wednesday that Robert “Kelly” Ortberg, an industry veteran, will take over as CEO on Aug. 8. He inherits the mother of all PR disasters, as well as financials that could generously be described with terms only slightly better than that.
The Outsider
Ortberg’s two predecessors, outgoing CEO Dave Calhoun and former CEO Dennis Muilenburg, were both promoted from within the family — the former was board chairman when tapped for the job, while the latter worked his way up the executive ladder. Ortberg, 64, is an outsider who retired in 2021 as head of major aviation parts supplier Rockwell Collins, now part of RTX Corp. This may be a good thing.
Calhoun’s and Muilenburg’s tenures ended in disarray, as Boeing has been saddled with years of production issues that led to crashes, accidents, and malfunctions. Whistleblowers have accused the company of cutting corners, the FAA has capped the number of 737 Max planes it can produce, and last week Boeing finalized a deal to plead guilty to fraud for misleading regulators about faulty software involved in two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019. The outside perspective could mark a PR reset, though regardless Ortberg will want to find the office coffee machine before his first meeting with accounting:
- Boeing reported on Wednesday that it lost $1.4 billion in the second quarter, with revenue down 15% year-over-year to $16.9 billion. Shares are down 26% this year, and there is more regulatory scrutiny to come, as well as crunched supply chains, frustration from airlines waiting on order backlogs, and tense labor negotiations that include a strike threat.
- One major task ahead for Ortberg will be integrating Spirit AeroSystems, a struggling parts supplier that Boeing split off two decades ago and agreed to buy for $4.7 billion in June. His experience may help: At Rockwell Collins, he oversaw the acquisition of transport communications firm ARINC and aircraft interiors manufacturer B/E Aerospace — and saw the company through its acquisition by United Technologies Corp. and UTC’s subsequent acquisition by RTX.
Rival Woes: If there’s any consolation, the competition is not too hot, either. Boeing’s chief rival Airbus announced earlier this week that its net profit fell 78% in the second quarter to €230 million ($248 million) and slashed its delivery forecasts as it struggles with supplier problems across its business.