Boeing's turnaround started with a hiring decision
Boeing's turnaround started with a hiring decision.
For years, the company's leadership had lost connection to the factory floor. Quality suffered. Two crashes killed 346 people. A door plug blew out mid-flight. Machinists walked out. And $53 billion in debt sat underneath all of it.
In August 2024, the board picked Kelly Ortberg. He started as an engineer at Texas Instruments in 1983 and spent 38 years in aerospace manufacturing. He built Rockwell Collins into a $6.7 billion avionics business, then led its merger with UTC Aerospace Systems to form Collins Aerospace. He retired in 2021. Boeing pulled him back.
His first decision wasn't a press release. He moved to Seattle, walked the production line, and told workers Boeing had to rebuild trust before it could talk about it.
Nine months in, the numbers suggest it's working.
Q1 2026: revenue up 14% to $22.2 billion. Net loss narrowed to $7 million from $31 million a year earlier. 143 commercial deliveries, the first quarter Boeing out-delivered Airbus since before the 737 MAX grounding. A $695 billion backlog.
At Eagle Talon, we invest in situations where leadership quality is mispriced. Boeing's board chose operational credibility over financial engineering. But Ortberg's edge isn't just manufacturing experience. He integrated Rockwell Collins into a larger aerospace platform. That is the exact skill Boeing needs now as it absorbs Spirit AeroSystems.
The stock is responding to all of it: the results, the tone, the delivery numbers. The real question is whether Ortberg can hold this standard through the next production ramp, when delivering faster means testing every commitment he made on quality.
🔗 Source: Boeing CEO Says 'All Systems Are Go' to Increase 737 Production as Company Narrows Loss
