Boeing CEO 'won't be shy' about bringing in new execs if needed

(Reuters) -Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg on Thursday praised the performance of upper management at the company, but told its annual general meeting that he would not hesitate to add personnel if needed.

“Won’t be shy about doing that, but again, I think the team is coming together pretty well,” Ortberg said in response to a question about whether Boeing is considering changes to upper management at its defense and commercial airplanes units.

“Having said that, if we need to continue to supplement the team going forward, not just direct reports to me but all the way up and down the organization, we will do that.”

Ted Colbert, then head of Boeing's troubled space and defense unit, left the company last year in Ortberg's first management change.

Ortberg, a veteran aerospace executive, started at Boeing in August 2024, tasked with restoring the might of a once major corporate powerhouse and leading U.S. exporter that had been rocked by multiple crises.

Ortberg also said the company is working on "pretty straightforward engineering fixes" for its Starliner program.

The Starliner's future was thrown into uncertainty after it suffered five thruster failures during its flight to the International Space Station last year, as well as leaks of helium that is used to pressurize the thrusters. NASA made the spaceship return to Earth without its crew in September, deeming it a risk for astronauts to ride.

“We are still in the process of going through those design iterations and then tests and we’ll be doing that for the balance of this year," Ortberg said. "And yes, there will be further flights. We’ve got two flights planned in our existing contract. NASA will determine whether they are crewed or uncrewed. My guess is that the first flight will be uncrewed but that’s really NASA’s decision to make."

Boeing's effort to fix the Starliner's faulty propulsion system has added to the aerospace giant's thorny development of a spacecraft that has cost it more than $2 billion.

(Reporting by Allison Lampert and Nathan Gomes. Editing by Mark Potter)