Kelly Ortberg is Boeing’s next chief executive

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Boeing named former CEO of Rockwell Collins, Kelly Ortberg, its next chief executive, as the aerospace giant looks to recast itself with outsider leadership after decades of acute strategic struggles that have seen its industry position diminish as one half of the world’s most powerful duopoly.

The longtime aerospace executive takes the reins of the storied American industrial icon on Aug. 8, one day after the National Transportation Safety Board concludes two days and 20 hours of hearings into the January accident aboard Alaska Airlines flight 1282 that set in motion the change in leadership at the company.

Related: Former Rockwell Collins CEO joins list of Boeing CEO candidates

The appointment confirms a Sunday report by The Air Current, which said Ortberg had joined the shortlist of candidates under consideration by the company’s board of directors. Spirit AeroSystems CEO Pat Shanahan, a three decade Boeing veteran. and current Boeing Commercial Airplanes unit CEO Stephanie Pope were also finalists for the position.

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Jon Ostrower
Jon Ostrower is Editor-in-chief of The Air Current, where he leads coverage of the global aerospace and aviation industries. Prior to launching TAC in June 2018, Mr. Ostrower served as Aviation Editor for CNN Worldwide, guiding the network’s global coverage of the business and operations of aviation. Mr. Ostrower joined CNN in 2016 following four and a half years at the Wall Street Journal. Based first in Chicago and then in Washington, D.C., he covered Boeing, aviation safety, and the business of global aerospace. Before that, Mr. Ostrower was editor of FlightBlogger for Flightglobal and Flight International Magazine covering the development of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and other new aircraft programs from 2007 to 2012. He is also an instructor at the University of Southern California in the Viterbi School of Engineering's Aviation Safety and Security program. Mr. Ostrower, a Boston native, graduated from The George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs with a bachelor’s degree in Political Communication. He is based in Seattle.
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