New Boeing boss Kelly Ortberg brings engineering background, aerospace roots

By Allison Lampert

(Reuters) – Kelly Ortberg, the former Rockwell Collins (NYSE:) boss coming out of retirement to take the reins of Boeing (NYSE:), is known as an aerospace veteran with an engineering background that contrasts with the troubled planemaker’s former leadership.

Ortberg will have a lengthy to-do list when he starts on Aug. 8. He’ll have to strengthen relations between Boeing and the airlines that are its biggest customers, and earn trust with the regulators and lawmakers that have put the company under a microscope following a January 5 mid-air panel blowout that turned into a full-blown safety crisis.

Ortberg has a background that threads a delicate needle. He’s a company outsider but an industry insider, which industry officials said positions him as able to change the company’s culture without upending its aerospace roots.

But questions remained about whether he would drive radical change favored by some politicians and industry analysts.

Bob Jordan, CEO of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:) said the company looks forward “to working with Kelly Ortberg in his efforts to return Boeing to its place as the leading American aerospace company.”

Ortberg became CEO of key aerospace supplier Rockwell Collins in 2013 and steered the company’s integration with United Technologies (NYSE:) and RTX until his retirement in 2021. He also served as chair of the U.S. aerospace advocacy group Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is as clear a break from the past as you can imagine,” said Richard Aboulafia, analyst at consultancy AeroDynamic Advisory.

Industry insiders had previously hoped Boeing would hire someone on the younger side, in the expectation that it will take years to turn the company around. Ortberg is 64, however, and Boeing said it waived the mandatory retirement age of 65 just like it did for CEO Dave Calhoun, who is departing after a management shakeup earlier this year.

AeroDynamic Advisory analyst Kevin Michaels, who first met Ortberg at Rockwell Collins in 1996, said Ortberg is young-looking and energetic and he didn’t see his age as a barrier for the top job.

“We all thought that he retired too young,” Michaels said.

Ortberg is said to have beaten out Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stephanie Pope and Spirit AeroSystems (NYSE:) boss and former Boeing executive Pat Shanahan for the job.

“I think it’s a positive,” said one portfolio manager that holds Boeing stock. “The narrative had been, ‘I can’t believe only Boeing insiders wanted this job.’”

Boeing had faced pressure from industry executives and U.S. lawmakers to choose new leadership with an engineering background and without lengthy ties to the company. Whether that is enough for lawmakers scrutinizing Boeing’s operations remains to be seen.

“Mr. Ortberg is a mechanical engineer. I hope that means he will ensure that his top message for everyone is building the best airplane means building the safest airplane in the world,” said Rep Rick Larsen, top Democrat on the House Transportation Committee who represents a district in Washington State home to major Boeing operations.

Analysts and acquaintances described Ortberg as being a good listener, honest and willing to take decisive action. “We believe during his leadership at Collins he was well liked by employees and direct reports and very personable,” said Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu in a note.

“This was while being a tough negotiator dealing with a diverse set of customers and suppliers and managing the complexity of its diverse customer base.”