Mustafa Abdel Azim (Abu Dhabi)
After a comprehensive and extensive search conducted by the Boeing Board of Directors over the past months to select a new CEO for the company to succeed Dave Calhoun, who announced earlier this year his intention to leave the company, after serving as President and CEO since January 2020, the Board announced its selection of Kelly Ortberg to assume the position and lead the company of more than 170,000 employees at this important stage in Boeing’s history.
The new CEO’s first task will be to work with the Federal Aviation Administration to help Boeing meet its goal of ramping up Max production, approve deliveries of the new 777X and address supply chain issues that are holding up production.
Boeing’s recently announced quarterly earnings reflected the scope of the challenges facing the company, with a reported loss of $1.44 billion in the second quarter compared to a loss of $149 million a year earlier. Since the beginning of 2019, Boeing has lost more than $25 billion.
Revenue fell 15% to $16.87 billion, below Wall Street’s average forecast of $17.35 billion. The commercial airplanes division posted an operating loss of $715 million, and revenue fell 32% as Boeing delivered fewer passenger jets to airlines — 92, compared with 136 a year earlier.
Ortberg, 64, brings to his new role more than 35 years of aviation leadership experience.
Ortberg, who holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Iowa, began his career in 1983 as an engineer at Texas Instruments. He joined Rockwell Collins in 1987 as a program manager and held increasingly important leadership positions within the company before becoming president and CEO in 2013.
After five years leading Rockwell Collins, he led the company’s integration with United Technologies and RTX until his departure from RTX in 2021.
He has also held a number of important leadership positions in the sector, including serving on the RTX Board of Directors.
Ortberg serves on the Board of Directors of Aptiv PLC, a global technology company and leader in vehicle systems engineering. He is a former Chairman of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA).
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