United Air’s Kirby has renewed confidence in Boeing with New CEO

United Airlines Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby, one of the biggest customers and biggest critics of Boeing Co., said the planemaker is “on the right path” under new CEO Kelly Ortberg and will recover sooner than expected from a series of safety missteps.

Kirby posted his comments on LinkedIn Thursday following a lunch meeting with Ortberg, who took the top job at Boeing Aug. 8 after being selected to replace Dave Calhoun. Ortberg, 64, rose through the ranks at Rockwell Collins, an aviation supplier that’s part of RTX Corp.

Kirby said he “was not only encouraged by what I heard, but I also came away with a renewed confidence that Boeing is on the right path and will recover faster than most expect.” It was clear Ortberg is “100% engaged, understands the cultural changes needed to turn things around and is committed to listening to his employees and customers,” he said.

An irritated Kirby in March told Boeing to stop building 737 Max 10 jets for United, opting to switch to a smaller variant and planes from rival Airbus SE until the US planemaker can secure long-delayed certification for the jet. United is a launch customer for the Max 10, with firm orders for 277 of the planes and options to take 200 more. 

Early this year, Kirby sought to enlist support from a range of parties to revamp Boeing management, while stopping short of a direct appeal for change, people familiar with the matter said at that time. He spoke with US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg over quality lapses at the company after a fuselage panel blew off an Alaska Airlines plane mid-flight. 

Calhoun announced in March that he’d leave, part of a major shakeup of management and production processes as Boeing tries to dig itself out of the crisis that’s consumed the company for seven months.