Boeing’s new CEO moves to factory heartland to stem safety crisis

Boeing’s new CEO Kelly Ortberg said on Thursday he would be based in the planemaker’s birthplace Seattle, moving closer to the factory floor to rein in a safety crisis. Ortberg's confirmation of earlier reports that he would move to Puget Sound, Washington, rather than Boeing's corporate headquarters in Washington D.C., follows months of pressure on the company to reconnect with its industrial roots after missing bolts led to a door plug falling off a 737 MAX jet in mid-air in January. Ortberg, 64, will spend part of Thursday, his first day on the job, meeting workers who produce the company's strong-selling 737 MAX jet at a factory in the Seattle suburb Renton, as he faces the steep task of "restoring trust," according to a message to employees. "Because what we do is complex, I firmly believe that we need to get closer to the production lines and development programs across the company," he wrote in the letter. The former boss of aerospace company Rockwell Collins, now part of RTX, will also talk to suppliers, government officials and regulators. The planemaker is bleeding cash and beset by problems expected to take years to fix. MAX production and deliveries have slowed following the Jan. 5 mid-air panel blowout on a near-new model, while output of the 787 Dreamliner is now less than five per month due to supply-chain problems.<br/>