Ortberg brings 35-years of aerospace leadership experience to the role and possesses a strong engineering background, something that Boeing prioritizes in leadership.
The Boeing board has reached a decision on the person to replace Dave Calhoun as president and CEO, naming former Rockwell Collins CEO Kelly Ortberg as the chosen candidate.
Calhoun announced that he would retire by the end of this year amidst the fall-out of the Alaska Airlines 737 MAX-9 door plug blowout. He has held the role of president and CEO since January 2020, and served as a member of Boeing’s Board of Directors since 2009. Boeing’s shareholders re-elected Calhoun to the Board of Directors this May during the company’s annual general meeting.
“The Board conducted a thorough and extensive search process over the last several months to select the next CEO of Boeing and Kelly has the right skills and experience to lead Boeing in its next chapter,” said Steven Mollenkopf, Chair of the Board at Boeing in a statement. “Kelly is an experienced leader who is deeply respected in the aerospace industry, with a well-earned reputation for building strong teams and running complex engineering and manufacturing companies. We look forward to working with him as he leads Boeing through this consequential period in its long history.”
Mollenkopf also thanked Dave Calhoun on behalf of the Board for stepping in “to steer the company through the challenges of recent years.” Calhoun took the helm of Boeing during the last 737 MAX crisis, when the global fleet was grounded due to two deadly crashes.
