Boeing named its new CEO and president Wednesday, a decision made as the company announced a loss of $1.4 billion during its second quarter.
Kelly Ortberg, a former CEO of aerospace company Rockwell Collins, will be taking over starting next Wednesday with hopes he can help the company bounce back from a challenging year.
Boeing has seen a series of issues after a commercial Alaska Airlines plane – a 737 Max 9 jet – had a panel blowout while in the air in January. The company came under scrutiny following the incident. Boeing agreed to plead guilty to fraud in July after fatal crashes of 737 Max 8s in 2018 and 2019. The crashes killed 346 people.
The company has continued to face allegations of taking manufacturing shortcuts from whistleblowers, one of whom died of self-inflicted wounds in March. Boeing has also seen problems with production due to supply chain issues.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration put a limit on the company expanding the production of the Boeing 737 Max jets following the January incident, allowing a maximum of 38 jets per month to be produced.
Boeing CEO David Calhoun announced in March that he would be stepping down from the position by the end of the year.
A news release from the aircraft maker Wednesday reported the loss, describing a “challenging quarter.”
Ortberg was selected to be Calhoun’s successor after what was reported to be a months-long search. Boeing’s chairman, Steve Mollenkopf, said that Ortberg “has the right skills and experience to lead Boeing in its next chapter.”
Some information for this report was provided by Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
