Boeing names new president and CEO as second quarter loss announced

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Boeing announced that its board elected Robert K. “Kelly” Ortberg as the new president and chief executive officer, effective Aug. 8.

Ortberg will succeed Dave Calhoun, who earlier this year announced his intention to retire from the company. He has served as president and CEO since January 2020 and has been a member of Boeing’s Board of Directors since 2009.

Ortberg will take over as Boeing lost more than $1.4 billion in the second quarter. Revenue fell 15% from a year earlier, and its commercial airplanes business and defense unit lost money.

The disappointing results come at a tumultuous time for Boeing. The company agreed to plead guilty to fraud in connection with the Max , two of which crashed, killing 346 people. The Federal Aviation Administration has increased its oversight of the company following mistakes, including the blowout of a panel on an Alaska Airlines jet. It is pushing back against whistleblower allegations of manufacturing shortcuts that crimp on safety.

Earlier this month, Boeing announced that it was going to acquire Wichita-based Spirit AeroSystems for $4.7 billion. Boeing previously owned Spirit, and the purchase would reverse a longtime Boeing strategy of outsourcing work on its passenger planes.

According to a new release, Ortberg, 64, brings over 35 years of aerospace leadership to this position. He began his career in 1983 as an engineer at Texas Instruments and then joined Rockwell Collins in 1987 as a program manager before becoming its president and CEO in 2013. After five years leading Rockwell Collins, he steered the company’s integration with United Technologies and RTX until his retirement in 2021. Additionally, he serves on the Board of Directors of Aptiv PLC, a global technology company and an industry leader in vehicle systems architecture. He is the former Chair of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) Board of Governors.

Ortberg holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Iowa.

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