Dave Calhoun was hired to fix Boeing and failed. Is Kelly Ortberg up to task?

Simone Del Rosario: Boeing has picked a new chief to hopefully thrust it into the air. 

After a monthslong search, the embattled aerospace giant selected Robert “Kelly” Ortberg, former CEO of aerospace company Rockwell Collins. 

Ortberg replaces Dave Calhoun, who announced earlier this year he’s retiring after four years at the helm. Calhoun was hired to turn things around at Boeing back in 2020 – his predecessor was fired over safety concerns following two deadly crashes that killed 346 people – but since then, it seems like it’s been one crisis after another for the company. 

Josh Hawley: Mr. Calhoun, what is it you get paid currently?

Dave Calhoun: Senator, that’s well disclosed in our proxy documents. In each of the years I’ve been employed.

Hawley: What is it?

Calhoun: It’s a big number sir. 

Hawley: Well, let me help you out. It’s $38.2 million this year. Does that sound right? 

Calhoun: Yes it does.

Hawley: That’s a 45% increase over last year. Does that sound right?

Calhoun: Yes it does.

Hawley: What is it you get paid to do, exactly? 

Calhoun: I get paid to run the Boeing Company. 

Hawley: So, help me understand that. Do you get paid for transparency? Is that one of the metrics for your income?

Calhoun: I think the board counts on me for transparency. 

Hawley: Really, because you’re under investigation for falsifying 787 inspection records. Boeing’s under criminal investigation for the Alaska Airlines flight. You were investigated by DOJ for criminal conspiracy to defraud the FAA This is all on your tenure. This doesn’t sound like a lot of transparency to me. 

Simone Del Rosario: Most recently, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge of conspiring to defraud the federal government. The Department of Justice says Boeing had violated a 2021 agreement that allowed the company to escape criminal charges after the two crashes. 

Victims and safety advocates say Boeing continues to get sweetheart deals over catastrophic events. 

Ortberg will start in his new position August 8th, escaping this week’s earnings call and next week’s 2-day hearing by the National Transportation Safety Board on the Alaska Airlines door blowout that happened in January. 

Ortberg will start the day after the hearing concludes. 

Unlike Calhoun, who came from a more financial background, Ortberg’s degree is in mechanical engineering. 

While Boeing’s financials are also struggling – this week the company reported a bigger quarterly loss and weaker revenue than expected – its safety issues are paramount. 

Ortberg’s more than three decades of aerospace experience put him at the top of Boeing’s list, and now he inherits a long list of critical to-dos. 

For SAN, I’m SDR.