Summary United Airlines CEO says Boeing is on the right path with CEO Kelly Ortberg at the helm. Ortberg's engineering background brings renewed confidence to the troubled company's future. Kirby and others believe Ortberg's decision to be based out of Seattle will give him a "hands-on approach" to fixing the company.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby is speaking out after meeting with Boeing’s new CEO, Kelly Ortberg. After the two spent time over lunch earlier this week, Kirby expressed that he has a “renewed confidence” that the planemaker is headed in the right direction. The Chicago-based airline is a major operator of Boeing aircraft.
It currently has nearly 500 narrowbody planes developed by the company, with several hundred more on order. “Boeing is on the right path” Kirby shared his comments in a LinkedIn post on Thursday. The executive explained that some may be surprised at how fast Boeing’s path to recovery will be with Ortberg at the helm.
“Earlier this week, I had lunch with Kelly Ortberg, newly appointed President and CEO at Boeing, and was not only encouraged by what I heard, but I also came away with a renewed confidence that Boeing is on the right path and will recover faster than most expect.” Thankfully, the widebody was not at full capacity. Boeing has been attempting to rebuild its reputation for several years.
Simple Flying previously reported that the company planned to plead guilty to criminal charges related to the deadly 737 MAX 8 cras.