Boeing CEO calls on employees to collaborate, be accountable after turmoil

By Julie Johnsson

  Boeing Co. Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg called on workers to be more collaborative and hold each other accountable to address the planemaker’s many challenges after months of turmoil. 

Ortberg bluntly told employees during a companywide address on Wednesday that they control the company’s destiny, according to people familiar with the matter. The CEO, who took the helm a little more than 100 days ago, said it’s up to all workers to turn the company around, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

 

The comments mark Ortberg’s most impassioned plea yet to rally workers behind his turnaround plan since he took over as CEO in August. The company has been reeling since a door-sized panel blew off an airborne 737 Max in January, an accident that led to revelations of poor manufacturing quality controls in its factories and a toxic culture that allowed those problems to fester.

 

Relations with workers have been particularly strained by a strike that lasted for more than seven weeks and consumed much of Ortberg’s first months on the job. Boeing was able to avert the work stoppage after raising wages, but the conflict left the company’s finances in even worse shape than they already were before the strike.

 

Ortberg also told workers that he spoke to President-elect Donald Trump about the effect of new potential tariffs on the company, according to the Wall Street Journal, which reported Ortberg’s remarks earlier on Wednesday. 

 

Boeing expects to burn cash well into next year as it ramps up aircraft production following the bruising strike, while troubled defense and space programs rack up steep losses from cost overruns and delays. The company is also laying off 10% of its staff, including managers and executives.

 

The planemaker secured a critical lifeline by raising more than $24 billion last month to fund its recovery.