Morning News United States of America: Boeing Appoints New CEO

McNerney, who took over Boeing as it was struggling with massive production delays from its 787 Dreamliner program, leaves behind a company with a record book of new jet orders and the fastest production rate in history.

The reason Muilenburg got the nod, quite simply, is that he is the most dynamic executive Boeing has produced in this generation.

“I would expect a very smooth hand-off”, Capital Alpha Partners analyst Byron Callan tells Aviation Week.

Boeing is bringing in fresh leadership – the company named a new CEO Tuesday. Along with Conner, Muilenburg has also served since 2013 as vice chairman.

He joined the company as an intern in 1985, rising to run Boeing’s defense business in 2009, and moving to his current role in 2013.

McNerney, 65, will remain Boeing’s chairman. For the first 15 years of his Boeing career, Muilenburg primarily spent his time based in the Seattle-area, where he held management and engineering positions in Boeing’s commercial and defense divisions.

Previous jobs included president and CEO of Boeing’s Defense, Space and Security unit.

“They are arguably the calls that need to be made” to help Boeing’s longer-term growth, analyst Robert Stallard wrote in a note to clients, adding Muilenburg might also change McNerney’s combative tone. He will stay on as the board’s chair even after he retires at the end of February next year. Last year, that share had declined to about one-third. Muilenburg is fortunate in that McNerney has fixed most of the outstanding problems the commercial side of the house faced when he became chief executive in 2005. Furthermore, LA Times reports they couldn’t reach a Boeing representative for comment.

Muilenburg, however, may have hinted at the timing in the company’s announcement. It is standard practice at big aerospace companies once a prospective CEO has proven himself or herself at a profit & loss center to put the candidate in a position like COO as a way of signaling shareholders and customers what the next step may be.

“This is all by design at a period when Dennis is ready”, McNerney said in an interview.

RBC Capital Markets analysts echoed the sentiment. The move comes earlier than some expected.