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Boeing Names Veteran Engineer Kelly Ortberg as CEO to End Safety Crisis

The new CEO will have to turn around lagging reviews and turbulent stock prices.

Boeing is pulling a veteran aviation engineer out of retirement to turn around the company’s lagging safety reviews and turbulent stock prices. Kelly Ortberg will take over as the company’s CEO on Aug. 8, after Dave Calhoun announced in March he would step down as CEO after repeated quality control breakdowns, including a loose bolt that caused a door plug to blow out in midair. Ortberg will face strong headwinds in revamping the company’s image, including raising Boeing stock, which plunged 27 percent this year after the door plug accident, on par with its worst year since COVID-19 effectively shut down industry in 2020. The fallout from January’s accident is affecting much more than Boeing’s commercial flying business. The company’s defense and space division lost $1 billion this year on contracts, including losing a highly anticipated military tanker program. Ortberg was chosen to tackle Boeing’s challenges because he has a reputation in the industry as a no-nonsense, business-savvy leader.