Boeing Names Kelly Ortberg CEO

Boeing has named aerospace industry veteran Kelly Ortberg as its new President and CEO after a months-long search, tasking the former Rockwell Collins executive with the monumental job of turning around the struggling planemaker, Abhijith Ganapavaram and Allison Lampert reported for Reuters.

The embattled planemaker recorded a $1.4 billion loss in the quarter as it continues to burn cash. I Photo: Rockwell Collins

Ortberg will start on August 8, facing a multitude of issues, including reviving the company's jet production and rebuilding trust with regulators, the industry, and the flying public.

Boeing, one of two global planemaking giants, has been mired in a reputational and safety crisis after a January 5 mid-air panel blowout on an Alaska Airlines-operated MAX 9 jet carrying 171 passengers.

The company said that it had also recorded a $1.4 billion loss in the quarter as it continues to burn cash.

The January 5 incident led to the eventual resignation of CEO Dave Calhoun and the departure of the company's previous board president, as regulators took aim at the safety culture that was already shaken by previous crashes in 2018 and 2019.

Shortly after the incident on January 5, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) barred Boeing from expanding production of its cash-cow 737 MAX family of jets without estimating how long the limitation would last.

The US aviation regulator capped production of 737 MAX jets at 38 per month, though Reuters has reported that Boeing has been producing jets for some weeks at a much lower level.