Boeing CEO Warns Of 'Brutal' Employee Survey Results, Kelly Ortberg Admits Deep Cultural Problems Amid Struggles To Recover From $12 Billion Loss

Boeing Co. BA CEO Kelly Ortberg expects forthcoming employee feedback to deliver a harsh reality check to the aerospace giant’s management team.

What Happened: The CEO warned that the recent survey results will likely be “brutal to leadership,” according to a partial transcript of a company-wide meeting seen by Reuters.

The candid admission came during an all-hands webcast from St. Louis on Wednesday, where Ortberg outlined his diagnosis of the troubled manufacturer’s deep-seated cultural problems. The February survey, which garnered responses from an impressive 82% of Boeing’s workforce, forms a crucial part of Ortberg’s strategy to transform the company’s organizational dysfunction.

“We’re very insular” and “we don’t communicate across boundaries,” Ortberg told employees. “Teams don’t work with each other as well as we could, and the power of the Boeing Company is in us all kind of rowing the boat together.”

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Why It Matters: This unflinching acknowledgment of leadership failures comes as Boeing struggles to recover from nearly $12 billion in losses during 2024 and persistent production issues with its 737 MAX, 787, and several defense programs, including the delayed Air Force One replacements.

Since taking the helm in August after Dave Calhoun‘s departure, Ortberg has established a culture working group composed of employees from across the company to examine its values and behaviors. The CEO plans to use the survey results, however uncomfortable they might be for executives, to develop a comprehensive action plan.

Paradoxically, despite the company’s struggles and ongoing workforce reductions targeting about 10% of its 170,000 employees, Ortberg expressed surprise at Boeing’s low attrition rate. “The fact that we don’t have huge attrition in the company, given what we’ve been through, is shocking,” he said.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.