Kelly Ortberg officially joins Boeing as president and CEO

Boeing's new president and CEO Kelly Ortberg has officially begun his role as of August 8, 2024. Ortberg - who was previously the CEO of Rockwell Collins - will succeed Dave Calhoun. ""Restoring trust starts with meeting our commitments -- whether that’s building high quality, safe commercial aircraft, delivering on defense and space products that allow our customers to meet their mission, or servicing our products to keep our customers running 24/7,"" Ortberg said in a message to employees. He continued: ""It also means meeting our commitments to each other and working collaboratively across Boeing to meet our goals. People’s lives depend on what we do every day, and we must keep that top of mind with every decision we make."" The OEM has had a tough year so far with the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 incident where a door plug blew out shortly after takeoff on January 5, 2024. The subsequent investigations, hearings, as well as the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) monthly production cap of 38 units for its 737 programme has put greater scrutiny on its safety and quality control. The new CEO - who has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and experience in the role - no doubt marks a significant step in the company's return to form. In his message, Ortberg said he will be based in Seattle in order to be ""close to the commercial airplane programmes"". He added: ""In fact, I'll be on the factory floor in Renton today, talking with employees and learning about challenges we need to overcome, while also reviewing our safety and quality plans."" Following his inception into the role, Boeing's shares climbed over 2% as of 9:51am GMT.