Abstract

The case chronicles the crisis at American aerospace giant The Boeing Company and the critical challenges Kelly Ortberg, the CEO of Boeing, faced in turning around the airframer. In August 2024, when Ortberg took charge of the company, it was going through severe turbulence – grappling with a safety crisis, quality control issues, delayed deliveries, a labor strike, and financial turmoil marked by high cash burn and mounting losses. As soon as Ortberg started to lead Boeing, he introduced a four-part turnaround plan, a comprehensive product safety and quality plan, and a new performance management system and raised US$21 billion in fresh capital. His turnaround attempt yielded constructive results. Boeing’s revenues for Q2 of 2025 rose by 35% Y-o-Y to US$22.7 billion. But when its popular model the 787 Dreamliner met with a fatal accident in June 2025 in Ahmedabad, India, claiming 261 lives, it once again brought to the fore the problems plaguing the aviation giant. Some of the immediate challenges Ortberg faced in turning Boeing around included earning back customer trust, ending production delays, managing suppliers, enhancing product quality, stopping cash burn, obtaining regulatory approval for its 777X, MAX 7, and MAX 10 models, restarting production of fighter jets, and overcoming competition from new players in the aerospace industry.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Identify the most common drawbacks of a merger
• Analyze the importance of a culture of safety and quality management practices in organizations.
• Understand the causes of an organizational crisis.
• Understand the issues and challenges in turning a company around.
• Propose strategies through which Ortberg can help Boeing regain its competitive position in the aerospace industry.

Keywords

Turnaround strategy; Turnaround management; Organizational Crisis; Strategic Change; Change Management; Leadership; Strategic Management; Business Revival; Change Management, Corporate Restructuring, Organizational Development,Boeing; Kelly Ortberg, aviation; merger; competitive advantage; corporate restructuring;