Boeing 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, 64, faces a multitude of issues, including reviving jet production and rebuilding trust with regulators, the industry and the public. He will start on Aug. 8.
The appointment lifted the shares of the planemaker 1.4% 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 will be a special advisor to the board until March 2025, Boeing chair Steve Mollenkopf said on Wednesday.