Boeing CEO says company ‘clearly at a crossroads’

In prepared remarks ahead of the company’s Q3 earnings conference call, Boeing (BA) President and CEO Kelly Ortberg said “Clearly, we are at a crossroads. The trust in our company has eroded. We’re saddled with too much debt. We’ve had serious lapses in our performance across the company which have disappointed many of our customers.” Ortberg sees opportunities ahead, including that Boeing’s backlog is roughly half-a-trillion dollars, its customer base “want us and need us to succeed,” and its employees “are thirsty to get back to the iconic company they know.” Ortberg says Boeing needs a fundamental culture change, must stabilize the business, needs to improve execution discipline on new platform commitments, and must build a new future for Boeing. Ortberg says he is encouraged with the progress Boeing is making already.