The IMPOSSIBLE Task Facing Boeing’s New CEO

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Boeing now has a new CEO, and for once, he’s NOT yet another manager in the same long line of Boeing board insiders that we’ve seen in recent years. So who IS Kelly Ortberg, and… what kind of person would even WANT to take on the laundry list of crises that make up the Boeing of today?
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[samuel]

Dude just got handed a burning building and a fire extinguisher. Good luck.

[Ma]

As an engineer who grew to be a director of engineering, I worked for three excellent companies with a great employee environment that replaced engineer CEOs with MBAs. And swiftly started to decline. Instead of a focus on quality it became all about quarterly earnings for the shareholders. Value for the shareholders was the new mantra.

[ketohhhhhh]

64???? Wow. He looks 45. He certainly looks a lot a lot younger.

[gerrytierney]

3 key points that raise hope: 1. CEO moving to live in Seattle to be near production. 2. Willing to "work together". 3. Enabling a safety culture where line workers can raise their hand if they see a problem. Get these 3 items right and they're 1/2 way there. Great video.

[conradsieber]

So negotiating an unfair labor contract for short term gain kills a company. Shocking...

[mikebaginy]

I had to roll my eyes hearing that Boeing likes their managers to be aged around 65 when they retire. Reminds me of my last employer. They fired all engineers they considered "too old", basically everyone over 45. Then (and now) they cry that they can't find experienced personell. And they aren't to only company doing this. Really brilliant managers!

[ghost]

I wish him luck.
In my career I can categorically state that managers NEVER want to lose power and status.
Also, the worse they are as managers the harder they fight changes.

[falxonPSN]

This is actually about the most hopeful sign from Boeing that we could get. As you've stated on many occasions, there are tons of systemic problems at work here, but the real critical element is bringing in someone who is not fixated on the Boeing way of doing things and more importantly not fixated on the Jack Welch way of doing things. I'm cautiously optimistic, but he seems like the guy that could do it.

[AnonymousRedCat]

it is official, NASA is bringing the Starliner crew down in a Dragon capsule.

[dereks]

The most disturbing thing you pointed out is that "...the starting pay for many skilled positions is comparable to baristas and food delivery drivers around Seattle..." *HOW* can Boeing expect to attract the type of worker it needs to produce such an intricate machine as an aircraft and not pay those people a wage commensurate with the complexity of the work? Frankly, I'm amazed Boeing can produce *ANY* aircraft that don't fall apart on the taxiway.

[thereluctantdragon]

Former Boeing employee (and btw not remotely suicidal). Your analysis is from my perspective quite fair and very much on target.

I cannot say enough bad things about the corporate culture McDonnell-Douglas inflicted on Boeing after the acquisition. Everything happening now could have been avoided if upper-management hadn't actively sabotaged everything good about Boeing's aircraft business.

[daveroche]

Otto von Bismarck - "I never believe anything until it's been officially denied". Wise man.

[doug]

too many lawyers and accountants and too few engineers/technicians

[mushroombased]

I did a short 6 year stint as a maintainer in the Air Force on the F-16s. I was hoping to take that experience and apply to work at Boeing so I could move back to my home state but everything I heard about Boeing and its work culture just made my skin crawl. Safety and adherence to technical manuals is highly stressed in the USAF, even if mission timelines start looming. "Work at the speed of safe" was the constant brief and knowing that Boeing's culture was the opposite of that meant that I just would never feel comfortable signing my name on any of those forms. I really hope this new CEO turns the company around. I miss my home and I miss working on airplanes, despite how tough and stressful the job could get!

[JayJay-fz]

Bashing the company unnecessarily? This is the company that had multiple crashes of the 737 MAX, a door plug pop out on takeoff, and a spacecraft that's just been deemed too unsafe for the crew to return in? This is a company that needs to be bashed and bashed and bashed until they understand hundreds of people have DIED and hundreds more narrowly avoided death because of their negligence and incompetence. We aren't going to stop bashing them until they fix it.

It's really great that we have an engineer heading up the company. The company needs to start focusing on engineering and quality and stop worrying about costs. They must be in the mindset that they're on a rescue mission. Failure is not an option. The next Boeing crash might just end the company.

[gordonhesse]

First thing he should do is drop the Mcdonnell Douglas symbol from the Boeing logo.

[Noble-bqor]

Boeing has been standing at the edge of a cliff lately.

[arunthomas]

I think Alan Mulally should be Kelly’s mentor to help turnaround Boeing just like what Alan did back at Ford and earlier at Boeing. He helped changed the cut throat culture, scaled production to meet actual demand, got rid of the house of brands that Ford had become, negotiated a deal with the UAW, and brought Ford back to profitability.

I was watching the 777 documentary from the 90s which embodied the Working Together spirit and it amazes me that in six years (1988 to 1994) they were able to do a clean sheet design, build, test and launch the 777. This was done at a time when emails were just starting out. They were able to build something so complex working with suppliers around the world without the computer power that we have today. It all goes to show you that it’s all about working together with mutual respect as one team relentlessly executing one plan towards one goal. They should get a Bryce Hoffman or another author to document this transformation. Hopefully, a few years from now we can all be reading about the tremendous turnaround of Boeing!

[AhmedHassan-ycfb]

You are correct. Ortbeg will have to fix the real problem of safety culture. All else is just a manifestation.

[pierresaslawsky]

Right on point. There are 2 types of corporate cultures: the Top-Down culture that says “Here are your marching orders. Execute. I don’t want to hear about your problems”… and the Collaborative culture that says “Here is how you fit in the big scheme of things. Do your part the best you know… and if you have a problem that you can’t fix yourself, you MUST escalate it until a solution is found.” The latter requires trust at every level, and that can only come from the very top.