Kelly Ortberg wants Boeing (BA) to straighten up and fly right.
Ortberg, who became the aerospace giant’s CEO last August, said in an interview with Aviation Week that “major culture change is one of my key turnaround focus areas.”
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“I’ve talked to our leadership about the need to get close to the people building and designing the airplanes,” he said. “We’ve got to be closer and helping our people be successful. I’ve done a lot of work in changing the culture of a company. It’s not a poster on the wall.”
Ortberg said people watch leadership’s behavior, “and that’s what drives change.”
“This is going to be an important year as we drive that into the organization,” he said. “People need to see us walk the talk from the top down.”
On July 8 the company reported strong second-quarter deliveries.
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg says he’s done a lot of work changing the company’s culture.
Image source: Win McNamee/Getty Images
Boeing reports Q2 deliveries
Boeing reported Q2 deliveries from its commercial operations totaled 150 planes, including 104 of the 737, 9 of the 767, 13 of the 777 and 24 of the 787. That 150 figure was up 63% from 92 a year earlier. Boeing Defense, Space and Security delivered a total of 36 units in Q2.
The 2025 second quarter was the best such period since 2018, before two fatal crashes of 737 Max planes five months apart grounded the jets from March 2019 to November 2020.
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The company made headlines last January when an Alaska Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing after a door plug on the Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft blew out.
A few months later, Boeing said CEO Dave Calhoun would step down. The move was part of a broad management shakeup.
An article in the July issue of CPA Journal charged that “the Boeing case is a cautionary tale of what can go wrong when a company fails to develop and implement sound internal quality controls that protect operational processes and encourage a culture of safety.”
“At Boeing, whistleblowers reported problems with operating processes that were ignored by management and weren’t always reported to the board of directors,” the authors wrote.
“The company did not use internal audits to identify and correct operational problems, relying instead on FAA inspections to point out safety issues in its 737 MAX aircraft,” the article continued.
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, investigators probing last month’s fatal crash of an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner are closely examining whether the aircraft’s fuel control switches were moved — intentionally or accidentally — just moments before the plane lost thrust and slammed into the ground, The Economic Times reported, citing a Reuters story.
Analyst encouraged by Boeing progress
The London-bound jetliner crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad on June 12, after climbing to just 650 feet. Of the 242 people on board, only one survived, and several people were also killed on the ground.
Shares of Boeing, which is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings on July 29, are up nearly 28% this year and up 23% from this time in 2024.
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In March, the U.S. Defense Department awarded Boeing the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance future fighter jet, known as NGAD.
The sixth-generation fighter, which will replace the F-22 Raptor, will be designated the F-47.
“It’s the single largest investment we’ve ever made in a defense program,” Ortberg said. “We’ve been investing for years. This was a well-run competition, and I think we did an excellent job in putting an offer forward that was superior to the competition.”
On July 3, Boeing said it had been awarded a $2.8 billion contract for the Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications program, the space-based component of the U.S. nuclear command, control and communications architecture.
The initial contract is for two satellites, with options for two more in the future.
On July 9 Susquehanna raised its price target on Boeing to $252 from $240 and affirmed a positive rating on the shares, according to The Fly. The investment firm updated its model following Boeing’s report of the June deliveries.
In light of the data, Susquehanna said, it continues to be encouraged by Boeing’s progress on the commercial-production reramp. It said Boeing posted solid deliveries through the first half of 2025.
Deutsche Bank raised its price target on Boeing to $245 from $235 and maintained a buy rating on the shares.
The firm changed ratings in the defense sector as part of a Q2 earnings preview. U.S. defense “will again be a mixed bag this earnings season,” the firm said.
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