Boeing Appoints Visionary Leader Kelly Ortberg as New President and CEO
DUBAI, July 31, 2024 — Boeing has today announced that its Board of Directors has designated Robert K. “Kelly” Ortberg as the organization’s new president and chief executive officer, commencing August 8, 2024. Ortberg will also become a member of Boeing’s Board of Directors.
He will succeed Dave Calhoun, who revealed earlier this year his decision to retire from the firm after serving as president and CEO since January 2020, and as a Board member since 2009.
“The Board conducted a thorough and extensive search process over the prior months to pinpoint the next CEO of Boeing, and Kelly possesses the ideal skills and knowledge to steer Boeing into its upcoming chapter,” stated Steven Mollenkopf, Chair of the Board. “Kelly is an experienced leader who enjoys substantial respect within the aerospace industry, boasting a commendable reputation for assembling strong teams and managing intricate engineering and manufacturing operations. We look forward to partnering with him as he guides Boeing through this crucial period in its storied history.”
“The Board also wishes to acknowledge Dave Calhoun for his outstanding leadership at Boeing, initially as Chair and subsequently as CEO, as he directed the firm through recent trials,” added Mollenkopf.
“I am profoundly honored and privileged to join this iconic enterprise,” commented Ortberg. “Boeing has a remarkable and rich history as a pioneer in our domain, and I am dedicated to working alongside the more than 170,000 passionate employees of the organization to uphold that legacy, placing utmost importance on safety and quality. There is much to achieve, and I am enthusiastic to begin this new chapter.”
Ortberg, 64, brings over 35 years of executive experience in aerospace to this position. He began his career in 1983 as an engineer at Texas Instruments and later joined Rockwell Collins in 1987 as a program manager, progressing through increasingly significant leadership positions at the company before becoming its president and CEO in 2013. After five years at the helm of Rockwell Collins, he oversaw the company’s merger with United Technologies and RTX until his retirement from RTX in 2021. He has held numerous key leadership roles within the sector, including positions on the Board of Directors at RTX. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Aptiv PLC, a global technology leader in vehicle systems architecture. He is the former Chair of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) Board of Governors.
Ortberg earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Iowa.
