After months' search Boeing names Kelly Ortberg as President, CEO

Boeing on Wednesday named aerospace industry veteran Kelly Ortberg as its President and CEO after a months-long search, tasking the former Rockwell Collins executive with the monumental job of turning around the struggling planemaker.
 

Ortberg will start on Aug 8, at a time when Boeing is wrestling with financial losses and has the task of rebuilding trust with regulators, the industry and the public during a quality crisis.
 

Ortberg will face pressure to help revive production of the company's strong-selling 737 jets from about 25 in June and July to 38 by year's end.
 

Boeing CFO Brian West told an analyst call on Wednesday he expects cash usage in 2024 to be larger than previously thought and expects cash burn during the third quarter.
 

The CEO appointment lifted the shares of the planemaker 1.4 per cent in early trading even as it posted a bigger loss of $1.4 billion in the second quarter due to struggles at its defense and space business.
 

One of the two global planemakers, Boeing has been mired in a reputational and safety crisis after a Jan. 5 mid-air cabin panel blowout on an Alaska Airlines-operated MAX 9 jet carrying 171 passengers.
 

That led to an executive reshuffle in which CEO Dave Calhoun decided to step down by the end of the year and board chair Larry Kellner said he would not stand for re-election.
 

Calhoun told analysts he didn't think Ortberg's arrival would lead to a big leadership overhaul at Boeing. Stephanie Pope, the head of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, was seen as a possible candidate to succeed Calhoun.
 

"My guess is he's going to put his arms around Stephanie and the rest of the team in a big way and just try to support their work," Calhoun told analysts.
 

Calhoun will be a special advisor to the board until March 2025, Boeing chair Steve Mollenkopf said on Wednesday.
 

Shortly after the January accident, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) barred Boeing from raising the production of its cash-cow 737 MAX family of jets above 38 a month, without estimating how long the limitation will last.
 

West said Boeing had been making aircraft far below that level during some weeks to plug quality gaps, confirming a Reuters report.
 

WALL ST CHEERS APPOINTMENT
 

A mechanical engineer, Ortberg, 64, has more than 30 years in aerospace and defense, including numerous executive roles.

After five years leading Rockwell Collins, he steered the company's integration with United Technologies and RTX until his retirement from RTX in 2021.
 

"This is a strong and safe pick. We can appreciate Ortberg's age may be higher than some investors would have liked to see.

However, we believe Ortberg's reputation at Rockwell Collins and United Technologies/RTX is strong," RBC Capital Markets analyst Ken Herbert said in a note.
 

Ortberg's experience in integrating acquisitions such as steering Collins through an $8.3 billion deal to purchase BE Aerospace in 2016 will face a fresh test at Boeing.
 

The planemaker is working to integrate Spirit AeroSystems into its fold after clinching a deal earlier this year to buy back the fuselage maker.
 

His appointment also addresses industry push for hiring an outsider to steer Boeing out of its troubles.
 

In the race for one of the top industrial jobs, he was chosen over Patrick Shanahan, the former Spirit Aero CEO who was seen as a favorite to succeed Calhoun by some analysts and investors. The company is set to be acquired by Boeing.
 

"There is much work to be done, and I'm looking forward to getting started," Ortberg said in a statement as Boeing waived its mandatory retirement age of 65 years for him.
 

DEFENCE BUSINESS STRUGGLES
 

During the second quarter, Boeing delivered a total of 92 aircraft, down 32 per cent from last year. It posted a loss of $2.33 a share, as its troubled defense and space business exacerbated the financial strain on the company.
 

The Defense, Space and Security unit, one of Boeing's three main businesses, has lost billions of dollars in 2023 and 2022, which executives attributed to cost overruns on fixed-price contracts.
 

“Clearly the results this quarter are disappointing,” Calhoun said.
 

Such contracts have high margins but leave defense contractors vulnerable to inflationary pressures that have dented US corporate earnings in the last few years.
 

The planemaker used to bid aggressively for fixed-price contracts before the pandemic, but has now said it would pivot away from such contracts to stem losses at the business, which amounted to $1.76 billion last year.
 

Ahead of last week's Farnborough Air Show, the unit's head had said it was "significantly challenged" during the quarter.
 

Boeing CFO Brian West said in May the planemaker will burn rather than generate cash in 2024, hamstrung by lower jet deliveries compared to last year.


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