Boeing has finally had a good month. On the eve of April’s annual shareholder meeting, the aerospace giant beat investor expectations with a reported $300m (€265.9m) of losses in the first quarter and quickly earned a stock upgrade by market analysts. Not turning a profit isn’t usually something to brag about but the numbers are a vast improvement on the combined $10bn (€8.86bn) in losses in the second half of 2024.

Boeing’s new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, has expressed optimism about the company’s recovery, declaring it to be in “full swing.” On 28 April, the manufacturer announced an agreement with rival Airbus to take assets from aviation parts supplier Spirit AeroSystems. The move will bring Boeing’s supply chain in house, assuring quality control on parts such as door plugs. Last year the door plug on a Boeing 737 Max blew out in mid-air and machinists went on a 53-day strike. 

For Ortberg, one of the most important factors in turning Boeing’s fortunes around might just be his address. He is something that his predecessors were not: a Washington state resident. In September, he purchased a $4.1m (€3.6m) home in a prestigious Seattle neighbourhood. It was an important signal that Ortberg was casting his lot with the engineers who make Boeing planes, rather than the executives in Virginia who have overseen the company’s tailspin.

Since taking over in August, Ortberg has been visiting production lines across Seattle in a bid to figure out what has gone so horribly wrong for the company. Some nine months into the job, Ortberg claims to have found solutions to issues such as mechanical flaws and the high cost of fixed-price defence contracts, including the Air Force One programme. Donald Trump’s trade war with China has also negatively affected the manufacturer, after jets intended for Xiamen Airlines were returned to the US.

Though many analysts expect Airbus to dominate the aviation industry over the next decade, there are still bright spots for Boeing, including the launch of its long-delayed 777X model in 2026. Ortberg, a mechanical engineer by training, also has plans to create a new type of commercial jet rather than redesign an older model. This is the type of project that could make Boeing a dynamic, attractive workplace for the next generation of aerospace engineers. Ortberg’s job in the cockpit is to stabilise Boeing long enough to get there.

Scruggs is Monocle’s Seattle correspondent. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

This story originally appeared in The Monocle Minute

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