MW 'We are at a low here, folks,' Boeing's new CEO tells employees. 'I'm tired of it.'
By Claudia Assis
Boeing employees spend more time arguing than thinking about 'how we're going to beat Airbus,' CEO says, according to WSJ report
Newly minted Boeing Co. Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg did not mince his words when addressing company employees on Wednesday.
The storied aerospace and defense giant "has faced many highs and lows," Ortberg said, according to a Wall Street Journal report that cited a recording of an all-hands meeting it had reviewed. "We are at a low here, folks," he said.
Ortberg spoke at the company's Seattle delivery center, also touching on potential tariffs and Boeing's culture, the Journal said.
"We spend more time arguing amongst ourselves than thinking about how we're going to beat Airbus," Ortberg said at the meeting, according to the Journal. "Everybody is tired of the drumbeat of 'what's wrong with Boeing?' I'm tired of it and I haven't been here that long."
Boeing $(BA)$ and Europe's Airbus (FR:AIR) make most of the world's supply of narrowbody and widebody aircraft, and demand for new, more efficient jets is high and the wait for new jets is long. Boeing's order backlog stood at $511 billion at the end of September, including more than 5,400 commercial airplanes.
Ortberg started as CEO in August with a mandate to turn Boeing around after a series of production misfires and a strike that has hobbled production of some of its most profitable commercial jets.
He is a former head of Boeing supplier Rockwell Collins, and oversaw that company's integration with the former United Technologies and RTX until he retired in 2021.
Boeing got a breather recently, tapping capital markets for about $21 billion last month, which lifted a near-term danger that had spooked investors and threatened to send the company's debt ratings to the riskiest trades.
With the raise in the past, however, Boeing cannot again tap investors for money to boost its balance sheet, the CEO told employees.
Boeing is burning through billions of dollars, won't turn cash-flow positive until it ramps up production, and doesn't have money to launch a new jet, although it doesn't need one right away, Ortberg said, according to the report.
See also: Boeing's CEO wants to make it 'great again.' Here's what's standing in the way.
Ortberg also told employees that he spoke with President-elect Donald Trump in recent days, discussing the impact of potential tariffs on the company, the report said.
A trade war with China would weigh on the company, he reportedly said, since it sells airplanes airlines in China and the U.S. does not import any aircraft from that country.
Shares of Boeing are down nearly 44% this year, contrasting with an advance of 24% for the S&P 500 index SPX.
-Claudia Assis
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November 20, 2024 18:03 ET (23:03 GMT)
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