Stephanie Pope, in her first news conference since taking over at the troubled planemaker in March, reiterated Boeing’s commitment to boosting Max production to 38 a month. Output slipped to the mid-20s a month in the first half of the year, analysts said.
Pope said Boeing was on track to improve its manufacturing quality, safety and delivery predictability, a “transformational change” that she said would take years.
“That doesn’t take away from the fact that we have let our customers down,” she said at a news conference ahead of the Farnborough Airshow outside London. “We have impacted their business and we have not delivered on our commitments and lived up to their role as a partner that they expect and need.”
Boeing has unveiled a series of goals to get back on track, including improving employee training and manufacturing processes, among other things. In the spring, the company presented the FAA with an improvement plan that the agency requested after the January incident.
“This plan is not a three-month plan,” Pope said. “I call it transformational because some of these actions will take years.”
As part of the management shakeup that promoted Pope to head the business unit, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said he would step down by the end of the year.
When asked if she was interested in the role, Pope said she was focused on turning around the business unit.
“That’s my priority,” she said.
Boeing’s problems aren’t limited to its commercial program. Its defense division is also facing delays, including the late and unprofitable modification of two Boeing 747s that will serve as the next two Air Force One planes.
The unit’s CEO, Ted Colbert, said Boeing continues to “struggle with some of the challenges that really stem from supply chain difficulties.”
Boeing will report quarterly results on July 31 and is also expected to report expenses for that unit, Colbert said at the same news conference.
