Colbert leaves as CEO of Boeing’s defense, space sector

Theodore “Ted” Colbert III is no longer president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, the Arlington County aircraft and aerospace manufacturer reported in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday evening, Sept. 20.

The announcement comes weeks after NASA decided it was unsafe to send two U.S. astronauts back from the International Space Station on the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, instead opting to send them to Earth in SpaceX’s craft in February 2025, eight months behind schedule.

Colbert, named head of Boeing’s space sector in 2022, “will be leaving Boeing, and … I’ve asked Steve Parker to temporarily oversee BDS, effective immediately, until a replacement for Ted is named at a later date,” according to Sept. 20 email from Boeing President and CEO Robert K. “Kelly” Ortberg to employees. Parker is chief operating officer of Boeing Defense, Space & Security.

“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. “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. Working together we can and will improve our performance and ensure we deliver on our commitments.”

Colbert restructured the defense program, but Boeing is still years behind schedule on aircraft and tanker deliveries; his unit logged nearly $1 billion in losses in 2023 alone. In January, a Boeing official said that they plan to get the unit back to high single-digit margins by the 2025-26 timeframe.

Colbert’s departure is just the latest shakeup at the Fortune Global 500 company, which has been plagued by problems with its 737 Max planes, such as fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 and a midair wall-panel blowout on a January commercial flight. A strike by 33,000 Boeing union machinists is entering its second week, as Boeing announced it would be furloughing thousands of employees across the nation and would be cutting pay for senior executives amid the strike.

In a Sept. 18 letter to Boeing employees, Ortberg emphasized that “all activities critical to our safety, quality, customer support  and key certification programs will be prioritized and continue, including 787 production,” but announced temporary furloughs that would impact tens of thousands of Boeing workers nationwide. “We are planning for selected employees to take one week of furlough every four weeks on a rolling basis for the duration of the strike,” wrote Ortberg, who added, “Along with these steps, my leadership team and I will take a commensurate pay reduction for the duration of the strike.”

Ortberg’s predecessor, Dave Calhoun, stepped down in July after previously announcing his intention to leave following the blowout. Ortberg was previously president and CEO of Rockwell Collins.