Government Contractors | Technology 2025: ORTBERG, ROBERT K. ‘KELLY’  

In August 2024, Ortberg succeeded Dave Calhoun as the Fortune Global 500 aerospace and defense giant’s chief executive.

Ortberg is the retired president and CEO of Collins Aerospace, previously Rockwell Collins and now absorbed into Arlington-based defense contractor RTX. He serves on the Aerospace Industries Association’s executive committee.

Boeing‘s commercial jet sector’s recent troubles continued in June when a Boeing 787 Air India jet crashed, killing 260 people. A preliminary report appeared to rule out mechanical or design error. In August, 3,200 machinists who build fighter jets in St. Louis, Missouri, went on strike.

In July, Boeing and Alaska Airlines settled with passengers who sued for $1 billion following a midair wall-panel blowout on a 2024 flight. In May, the U.S. Justice Department and Boeing reached a deal for the company to avoid criminal prosecution over fatal crashes of Boeing 737 Max planes in 2018 and 2019; Boeing will pay and invest more than $1.1 billion, including $445 million to crash victims’ families.

In March, two Boeing Starliner astronauts returned to Earth on a SpaceX spacecraft after being stranded on the International Space Station for 286 days.

Boeing posted 2024 revenue of $66.5 billion, down from $77.79 billion in 2023, but the commercial airplane unit reported 81% in revenue growth in the second quarter this year. Ortberg said he expects positive cash flow by the fourth quarter.