Boeing Dismisses Defense Chief after Failures and Losses

TapTechNews September 22nd news, according to CCTV News report, after experiencing the failure of the Starliner spacecraft and losses in government contracts, the American Boeing Company dismissed Ted Colbert, the chief executive officer of its Defense, Space & Security Group, on September 20 local time. The group's chief operating officer Steve Parker will temporarily take over this position.

Boeing is composed of three main business divisions, namely the Commercial Airplanes Group, the Defense, Space & Security Group, and the Global Services Group. Boeing's chief executive officer Kelly Ortberg announced this decision in an email sent to employees on the 20th and said that the company's current focus is to reshape consumer confidence. According to Reuters, this is the first management adjustment since Ortberg took office in early August.

Colbert has served in Boeing for 15 years, once served as the chief information officer and was in charge of Boeing's global services business. During his tenure as the chief executive officer of the Defense, Space & Security Group, Colbert faced challenges such as losses in government contracts and the failure of the Starliner spacecraft. According to the Associated Press, since the beginning of 2022, the group has suffered losses of up to 6 billion US dollars (TapTechNews note: currently about 42.307 billion yuan), and is facing cost overruns. Multiple projects in cooperation with the government or the military are in a loss-making state, including projects such as building the new Air Force One presidential plane and the Air Force's aerial refueling aircraft.

The Starliner spacecraft of Boeing has had technical failures many times, resulting in two astronauts滞留 for several months at the International Space Station, while their originally scheduled stay time is only one week. Coupled with the strike of 33,000 Boeing union members in the middle of this month, the production of Boeing's commercial aircraft has almost come to a standstill, affecting the production of multiple models such as the 737 and 777.