Boeing’s new boss takes over the company today

The challenges are numerous for Kelly Ortberg who will have to straighten out both the production and the finances of the troubled American aircraft manufacturer.

A real balancing act for the successor of Dave Calhoun, the former boss who lasted three and a half years. Dave Calhoun was called in early 2020 to restore the situation after two plane crashes that killed 346 people, in 2018 and 201, not to mention the recent case of the door torn off during takeoff at an altitude of 5,000 meters of his flagship B737Max plane, fortunately without causing any casualties; the cracks that appeared on the cockpit windows of other planes, there are many production and quality control problems for the direct competitor of the European Airbus.

Kelly Ortberg, 64, began his career in 1983 as an engineer at semiconductor specialist Texas Instruments before joining aeronautical equipment manufacturer Rockwell Collins Aerospace. He is a man of the inner circle with the typical profile of a reassuring mechanical engineer. A highly respected leader with recognized skills and credibility to turn around Boeing, which is now in convalescence mode.

The list is long, starting with the reliability investigations opened on three of the four commercial aircraft currently manufactured: the 737, the Triple 7 and the latest 787. It will be necessary to manage the plea agreement concluded on July 24, 2024 with the American Department of Justice concerning the fatal crashes of 2018 and 2019 of the Indonesian airlines Lion Air, and Ethiopian Airlines. Furthermore, internally, Boeing is negotiating a new collective agreement with the powerful union of machinists which represents more than 30,000 employees in the Seattle region (northwest of the United States). These employees who have just approved the principle of a massive strike, in the absence of an agreement by the deadline of September 12.

Ten years ago, Boeing was commissioned by NASA (the American space agency) to develop a new capsule, Starliner, to transport astronauts to the orbital space station. We have just learned that, finally, the two astronauts who were supposed to return to Earth with Boeing’s capsule will have to wait a little longer because Starliner has problems. In short, another slap in the face for Boeing, which was in deficit by 1.3 billion euros in the second quarter of this year. Good luck to the new boss, Kelly Ortberg. Welcome aboard.