Boeing names former Rockwell Collins CEO Kelly Ortberg as new leader

Boeing has appointed Robert ""Kelly"" Ortberg as the company's new president and CEO, effective as of August 8, 2024. He will also serve on the company's board of directors. He will succeed outgoing CEO Dave Calhoun and stated his intention to retire earlier this year following a recent string of safety and quality control issues at the company. Calhoun had served as president and CEO since the beginning of 2020. ""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,"" said Boeing chair of the board Steven Mollenkopf. Ortberg served as CEO and president at Rockwell Collins for five years from 2013. In addition, he helped navigate the company's integration with United Technologies and RTX until his retirement from RTX in 2021. He brings to the table over 35 years of aerospace leadership experience. ""I'm extremely honoured and humbled to join this iconic company,"" said Ortberg. ""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."" During Boeing's earnings call, Calhoun underlined the fact that ""the board made the decision"". He added: ""[Ortberg's] going to be able to put his arms around Stephanie and the rest of a team in a big way and just try to support their work. He knows full well that we're in recovery mode."" He said it was not ""intended to be a large leadership overhaul"". Mollenkopf added: ""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."" He began his career in 1983 as an engineer at Texas Instruments before joining Rockwell Collins in 1987 as a programme manager. In addition, he holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Iowa. This background will no doubt be of note to the aviation industry with industry leaders calling for Boeing to be helmed by one with a more technical background to help steer it through its recent woes. The announcement follows speculation earlier in the week that Ortberg was a frontrunner for the role.