Boeing & Aerospace
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Boeing chief coming home: New CEO will be based in Seattle
July 31, 2024 at 8:52 am
Kelly Ortberg, Boeing’s newly appointed chief executive officer, at a Rockwell Collins production facility in in Manchester, Iowa. (Daniel Acker / Bloomberg, 2016)
By
Dominic Gates
Seattle Times aerospace reporter
In a major gesture toward Boeing’s Puget Sound-area workforce, Kelly Ortberg, the new CEO of Boeing whose appointment was announced Wednesday morning, has chosen to be based in Seattle, according to a source familiar with the decision.
This step may indicate, though Virginia-based Boeing has made no announcement, that the company’s headquarters, after 23 years astray, will move back to where Boeing was born and where its heart as a commercial airplane manufacturer remains.
With Ortberg’s choice, along with Commercial Airplanes CEO Stephanie Pope, head engineer and Chief Technical Officer Todd Citron and other key executives already based here, the top leaders with control over the airplane building business will all be in Seattle.
“Ortberg is an industry guy. He knows the heritage of Boeing. He knows the heritage of Seattle. It would make sense moving there, that he move the headquarters back,” said Adam Pilarski, a veteran aviation analyst with consulting firm Avitas.
Early Wednesday, Boeing announced that Ortberg, former chief executive of Iowa-based major avionics supplier Rockwell Collins, would replace Dave Calhoun as Boeing CEO and president, effective Aug. 8.
“I’m extremely honored and humbled to join this iconic company,” said Ortberg in a statement. “Boeing has a tremendous and rich history as a leader and pioneer in our industry, and I’m committed to working together with the more than 170,000 dedicated employees of the company to continue that tradition, with safety and quality at the forefront.”
The Boeing factory in Renton is seen through open doors with Lake Washington in the background on July 17. (Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times)
777 freighters and a 777X are built at the Boeing Everett Production Facility on June 26 in Everett. (Jennifer Buchanan / The Seattle Times)
For Ortberg, 64, the Boeing board is waiving the mandatory retirement age of 65 to give him time to turn things around.
Ortberg, who has a degree in mechanical engineering, has worked as a leader in aerospace more than 35 years. He began his career in 1983 as an engineer at Texas Instruments, and then joined Rockwell Collins in 1987 as a program manager and held increasingly important leadership positions at the company prior to 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 from RTX in 2021.
He is the former chair of the Aerospace Industries Association Board of Governors.
The news of Ortberg’s appointment was widely greeted with enthusiasm within the aviation world.
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Kevin Michaels, founder of aerospace consulting firm Aerodynamic Advisory and formerly in the late 1990s a director of strategic development at Rockwell Collins, observed Ortberg’s style back then.
On Wednesday, Michaels wrote on LinkedIn that Ortberg “did an amazing job.”
Michaels, an expert on the major aerospace suppliers, said Rockwell Collins was known for taking care of employees, customers, suppliers, the local community as well as shareholders.
“Collins was highly profitable, yet innovative and consistently rated as the best supplier,” he wrote. “Employees love the place. This is quite a contrast to other aerospace manufacturers and today’s Boeing.”
“All in all, a bright day for our beloved industry. Go Kelly! Go Boeing!” Michaels concluded.
U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Everett, the lead Democrat on the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, in a statement said he’s “encouraged” by Ortberg’s appointment, though he added that the new CEO “has his work cut out for him.”
“First, he has to ensure a continued commitment to the safety and quality plan,” Larsen said in a statement. “Second, he needs to listen to the women and men of the Machinists Union in the current labor negotiations.”
In an interview Jon Holden, president of District 751 of the International Association of Machinists, welcomed Ortberg’s move to the Puget Sound.
“I think that’s a positive thing. I think that’ll put him closest to the economic driver of this company, and I hope that leads to success,” Holden said.
On a company earnings call Wednesday morning, CEO Calhoun said he does not expect Kelly’s appointment will lead immediately to other changes at the executive level.
“My guess is he’s going to put his arms around” those already in place, including Stephanie Pope, who was also in the running for the top job.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Seattle Times reporter Lauren Rosenblatt contributed to this report.
Dominic Gates: 206-464-2963 or dgates@seattletimes.com; Dominic Gates is a Pulitzer Prize-winning aerospace journalist for The Seattle Times.
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