Kelly Ortberg announced Boeing needs a couple more years before it can afford to build a new plane. A couple more years. The CEO of a company that makes flying metal tubes for a living just told investors he needs 24 more months to figure out if they have enough money to design another flying metal tube.
Boeing's bestselling jet is the 737 MAX. You remember that one. Doors fall off mid-flight. Software tries to kill everyone. The FAA grounded the entire fleet twice. Now Ortberg says the priority is stabilizing the existing business instead of rushing to develop a successor. Stabilizing. That's what you call it when your product line includes planes that attempt murder.
The retail traders who bought Boeing at $240 are currently refreshing their brokerage apps wondering when the turnaround starts. It starts in a couple more years. Maybe. If the company can stop hemorrhaging cash long enough to remember how to build something that doesn't require a federal investigation every six months.
Ortberg's strategy is revolutionary. Step one: don't make a new plane. Step two: try to make the current planes less deadly. Step three: check back in 2028. This is the kind of visionary leadership that gets you a corner office and a compensation package that could fund a small jet program.
The 737 MAX successor was supposed to be the thing that saved Boeing. The clean-sheet design. The redemption arc. Now it's shelved because the company needs to focus on not imploding first. It's like announcing you're too broke to buy a new car because you're still paying settlements on the old car that exploded.
But sure, load up on calls. I'm sure year three is when everything clicks.
Photo by Robert Jan on Unsplash
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