Longtime aerospace executive and former Collins Aerospace chief Kelly Ortberg will succeed David Calhoun as Boeing’s chief executive on 8 August.
Boeing disclosed the change on 31 July, saying its board of directors elected Ortberg as the company’s incoming leader. Ortberg will also serve on Boeing’s board of directors.
“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,” says Boeing board chair Steven Mollenkopf. “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.”
The news brings to a close much uncertainty over who would lead Boeing when current embattled CEO Calhoun steps down. Boeing disclosed earlier this year that Calhoun would retire before year-end, kicking off a search for a successor.
The company’s board of directors had reportedly considered candidates including GE Aerospace CEO Larry Culp, Spirit AeroSystems CEO Patrick Shanahan, Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stephanie Pope and Boeing director David Gitlin.
“I’m extremely honoured and humbled to join this iconic company,” says Ortberg. “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.”
Ortberg began his career in 1983, taking an engineering job at Texas Instruments before joining Rockwell Collins in 1987 and rising to the position of Rockwell CEO in 2013. He was later CEO of Collins Aerospace, a company formed by United Technologies after it acquired Rockwell in 2018.
Ortberg is now a board member of RTX, which owns Collins Aerospace.
Calhoun became Boeing’s CEO in 2020 during the 737 Max crisis, succeeding Dennis Muilenburg.
“The board would also like to thank Dave Calhoun for his strong leadership at Boeing, first as chair and then as CEO, when he stepped in to steer the company through the challenges of recent years,” says Mollenkopf.
Calhoun will remain CEO until 8 August, after which he will be special advisor to Boeing’s board until March 2025, Boeing says.
