Boeing will soon have a new CEO.

The troubled airplane maker announced Wednesday that Robert K. “Kelly” Ortberg will take over as president and chief executive officer in August, seven months after a door plug dislodged from an Alaska Airlines flight, raising concerns about the safety of the company’s manufacturing processes.

What You Need To Know

  • Boeing announced Wednesday that Robert K. “Kelly” Ortberg will take over as president and chief executive officer on August 8

  • The airplane maker has been under intense scrutiny since Jan. 5, when a door plug dislodged from an Alaska Airlines flight

  • Kelly is the former CEO of the aerospace company Rockwell Collins

  • Boeing Board Chair Steven Mollenkopf said Kelly is a deeply respected leader in the aerospace indsutry who has a reputation for team building and running complicated manufacturing and engineering companies

“The Board conducted a thorough and extensive search process over the last several months to select the next CEO of Boeing, and Kelly has the right skills and experience to lead Boeing in its next chapter,” Boeing Board Chair Steven Mollenkopf said in a statement.

He said Kelly is a deeply respected leader in the aerospace industry who has a reputation for team building and running complicated manufacturing and engineering companies.

Ortberg, 64, started his career as an engineer with Texas Instruments in 1983 before joining the aerospace company Rockwell Collins as a program manager and, from 2013 to 2021, its CEO. He also previously served as the chair of the Aerospace Industries Association Board of Governors.

Boeing announced Wednesday that it has selected Robert K. "Kelly" Ortberg as its new CEO. (Photo courtesy of Boeing)

“Boeing has a tremendous and rich history as a leader and pioneer in our industry, and I’m committed to working together with the more than 170,000 dedicated employees of the company to continue that tradition, with safety and quality at the forefront,” Ortberg said in a statement.

Boeing is the subject of several ongoing investigations following a Jan. 5 incident involving one of its 737-9 MAX planes operated by Alaska Airlines, which experience a midair blowout of a temporary door panel. The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA currently have open investigations into the company.

Current Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun told a Senate subcommittee last month that the company had replaced every single leader across its executive team since 2020, when he first took the helm. Following the Alaska Airlines incident, Calhoun agreed to step down by the end of the year as part of Boeing’s reckoning for a succession of safety incidents involving Boeing planes.

Ortberg will take over as the company’s leader August 8.