United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby celebrates the grand opening of the company’s new flight training center in Denver, Colorado, on February 22, 2024.
Hyun Chang | The Denver Post | Getty Images
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said: BoeingAfter meeting with the manufacturer’s new CEO, he reported the company’s recovery.
It’s a welcome change of pace for the head of United Airlines, a major Boeing customer and one of the most publicly vocal complainers about Boeing’s problems, which have led to delays in the delivery of dozens of planes.
Kirby and Boeing’s new CEO, Robert “Kelly” Ortberg, met for lunch in the Dallas area earlier this week. “I’m not only encouraged by what I’m hearing, but I also have renewed confidence that Boeing is on the right path and will recover sooner than many expect,” Kirby said in a LinkedIn post on Thursday.
United has 484 open orders with Boeing, according to its website.
Ortberg also American Airlines Chief Executive Officer Robert Isom spoke about the matter earlier this week, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak to the media.
Ortberg, who previously led commercial and defense supplier Rockwell Collins and has more than 30 years of aerospace industry experience, took the helm at Boeing a week ago and spent part of his first day at the Boeing 737 factory in Renton, Wash. Ortberg replaces previous leaders who are based in Seattle.
“His engineering background at Rockwell Collins combined with his instinct to be close with the frontline team in Seattle creates a winning combination,” Kirby wrote Thursday. “From our discussions, it was clear he is 100% engaged, understands the cultural change necessary to turn things around, and is committed to listening to employees and customers.”
United and other major customers Southwest Airlines Boeing is working on delayed passenger jets as it tries to recover from its latest safety crisis, when a door plug on one of its planes exploded. Alaska Airlines The 737 Max 9 was launched earlier this year.
No one was seriously injured in the accident, which occurred because bolts securing the door plugs had not been installed before the airline received the plane, and came after the Boeing plane had numerous other manufacturing defects.
“In speaking with our customers and industry partners to this day, I can assure you that, without exception, they all want us to succeed,” Ortberg wrote in a memo to employees on his first day on the job last Thursday. “In many cases, they need us to succeed.”
