- Ortberg stabilized Boeing after 737 panel blowout, strike
- CEO credited for cultural reset
- Boeing needs to ramp up jet production to catch Airbus
SEATTLE, Aug 8 (Reuters) – One year after taking the helm during Boeing’s (BA.N), opens new tab deepest crisis in decades, CEO Kelly Ortberg has stopped the company’s freefall. Now, he faces new challenges: ramping up jet production, reviving a struggling defense and space division, and restoring profitability at the storied planemaker.
Ortberg was comfortably retired in Florida when Boeing’s board offered him the top job at a company bleeding cash and reeling from reputational damage.
The crisis had deepened after a mid-air panel blowout on a new 737 MAX in January 2024, prompting his predecessor’s exit and reviving memories of two fatal MAX crashes – in 2018 and 2019 – that killed 346 people.
Ortberg arrived promising to restore trust, stay close to the factory floor, and ensure Boeing met its commitments to safety, quality, and transparency.
Since then, Boeing has notched a string of wins: it has improved efficiency and quality on the 737 line, navigated President Donald Trump’s trade policies, reached a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice to drop its prosecution over the crashes, signed blockbuster airplane deals, and landed the contract for the U.S.’ first sixth-generation fighter, the F-47.