Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg sees more work on company turnaround in 2026

By Julie Johnsson

 

Boeing Co faces another challenging year in its comeback effort, Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg told employees Thursday while lauding the progress the US planemaker has made to recover from a series of crises. 

 

“To continue our turnaround, we still have important work ahead of us — perhaps even more than what we accomplished last year,” Ortberg said in a companywide memo to employees that was viewed by Bloomberg.

 

A Boeing representative declined to comment beyond Ortberg’s remarks.

 

Ortberg will provide a full update on Boeing’s performance when the company reports fourth-quarter earnings on Jan. 27. But he acknowledged the improvements from a year ago, when the manufacturer was restarting its commercial jet factories following a crippling strike and auctioning assets after it burned through $14.3 billion in cash during 2024.

 

 

“Looking back to where we were this time last year, we’ve made a lot of progress and have set the foundation to keep moving Boeing forward in 2026,” the CEO said.

 

Ortberg’s tempered remarks are a contrast to Wall Street’s enthusiasm. Boeing shares have risen 22 per cent since Chief Financial Officer Jay Malave reaffirmed in early December that the company is on track to generate billions of dollars in free cash flow in 2026 as its factories step up production.

 

The company now has 25 buys, eight holds and one sell rating from analysts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

 

The lone bear, Matthew Akers of BNP Paribas Equity Research, cautioned that the ramp-up in cash generation after this year may not happen as quickly as investors expect. 

 

“Investor sentiment swung from very negative on the FCF outlook to overly positive, in our view,” Akers told clients in a note Thursday, referring to free cash flow by an acronym. The stock declined by 0.4 per cent at the close of Thursday’s trading session in New York.

 

While Boeing and Airbus SE haven’t yet released order and delivery totals for 2025, the US planemaker is on track to claim the jet-sales title from its European rival for the first time this decade.

 

Ortberg’s to-do list for the year includes finally certifying three jet models that were due to enter the market at the start of the decade and rebuilding relationships with the Pentagon after a series of cost overruns and delays on new programs.

 

He also faces another possible labor showdown as a contract expires for the union representing Boeing’s engineers and technical workers. Boeing vice president Robert Joga will be spearheading negotiations, a company spokesman said. He replaces Michael Fitzsimmons, who joined Ford Motor Co. in October.

 

Boeing got an early 2026 boost when long-time customer Alaska Air Group Inc. unveiled the largest airplane order in its history on Wednesday. 

 

The landmark deal included 105 of Boeing’s 737 Max 10, an aircraft mired in safety certification delays that the planemaker hopes to overcome this year.  

 

Ortberg told employees that he and Stephanie Pope, Boeing’s commercial airplanes chief, had updated US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on the progress on the long-delayed 737 Max and 777X models after the aircraft deal was announced. 

 

“Moving these development programs forward through certification is central to our path forward this year,” he said.