Kelly Ortberg, Boeing’s new president and CEO, said on Sept. 20 that Ted Colbert, head of the corporation’s troubled space and defense unit, will leave the company effective immediately.
The move marks the first major leadership change under Ortberg, who took over in August.
“I want to thank Ted for his 15 years of service at The Boeing Company, supporting our customers, our people, and our communities,” Ortberg wrote in a memo to employees.
Steve Parker, the unit’s chief operating officer, will assume Colbert’s responsibilities until a permanent replacement is named.
Boeing’s space business has suffered repeated setbacks, including NASA’s recent decision to send the Starliner capsule back to Earth without astronauts after years of issues.
Colbert’s exit also comes as Boeing grapples with a broader financial crunch. The company announced furloughs for thousands of white-collar workers, while more than 32,000 workers remain on strike.
“At this critical juncture, our priority is to restore the trust of our customers and meet the high standards they expect of us to enable their critical missions around the world,” Ortberg wrote. “Working together we can and will improve our performance and ensure we deliver on our commitments.”
The company’s troubles extend to its commercial division, including a new Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9’s experiencing a mid-air emergency in January because of missing bolts. Boeing also faces ongoing scrutiny from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which has restricted the company from increasing production of the 737 Max until it makes substantial safety and quality improvements.
In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge and pay $243.6 million in penalties after breaching a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement. The U.S. government alleged that Boeing knowingly misrepresented information to the FAA about key software on the 737 Max, the same plane involved in two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.
Ortberg, in a separate email to employees on Sept. 20, emphasized the need for Boeing to regain its leadership in managing defense programs.
“Historically, Boeing held a superior reputation for our ability to manage programs, and we need to ensure it remains a key differentiator for us in the future,” Ortberg wrote. He said he had learned more about investments for the company to be more competitive in the future, as well as near-term challenges that engineers face with first-time quality and execution.
Parker, who joined Boeing’s industrial leadership team two years ago, was tapped to help overhaul Boeing’s defense programs and improve production efficiency. He had previously led Boeing’s bomber and fighter programs as well as its defense plants in St. Louis.
Colbert joined Boeing in 2009 after working at Citigroup and the Ford Motor Company. He served as Boeing’s chief information officer and led its global services business before running the defense unit from April 2022, following the previous leader’s ousting.
Boeing’s defense, space, and security unit has lost billions of dollars in the past two years, primarily because of cost overruns on fixed-price contracts. The division’s losses also include more than $2 billion tied to delays in delivering two retrofitted Boeing 747-8 aircraft that will serve as the next Air Force One.
Boeing didn’t reply by publication time to a request for comment.
