Boeing [BA] on Tuesday named its number two executive Dennis Muilenburg to be the company’s new CEO effective July 1, succeeding Jim McNerney who is retiring from Boeing next February after leading the aerospace giant for the past decade.
Muilenburg, 51, will be president and CEO and be a member of Boeing’s board, which will continue to be chaired by McNerney, 65. Muilenburg has been president, chief operating officer (COO), and vice chairman of Boeing since December 2013, a move that put him in line to be the company’s next chief.
In his role as president and COO, Muilenburg worked with McNerney overseeing Boeing’s daily operations “with a focus on the company’s growth and productivity initiatives, key customer relationships and leadership-development programs,” Boeing said.
Ray Connor, 60, who is president and CEO of Boeing’s $60 billion Commercial Airplanes business, has also been co-vice chairman of the company since 2013 and will be sole vice chairman going forward.
Before becoming president and COO, Muilenburg had led Boeing’s $31 billion Defense Space & Security segment beginning in 2009. He has been with Boeing for 30 years in various capacities, including program management and engineering positions as well as leading the Global Services & Support business of the defense segment and its Combat Systems division.
McNerney is staying on temporarily through February 2016 to help ensure a smooth leadership transition.
Dennis is an extremely capable, experienced and respected leader with an immense passion for our company, our people, and our products and services,” McNerney said in a statement. “As CEO, Dennis will bring a rich combination of management skills, customer focus, business and engineering acumen, a can-do spirit and the will to win.”
Boeing lauded McNerney’s 10-year run as CEO, saying he oversaw the company’s overtaking of Airbus Group in commercial airplane deliveries, updating the product line, continued strong position in defense despite a decline in military spending, and focus on boosting productivity.
The company’s revenue since 2004, the year before McNerney took the helm, has risen 73 percent to a record $90.8 billion in 2014, Boeing said.
“Our company is financially strong and well positioned in our markets,” Muilenburg said in a statement. “As we continue to drive the benefits of integrating our enterprise skills, capabilities and experience, what we call operating as ‘One Boeing,’ we will find new and better ways to engage and inspire employees, deliver innovation that drives customer success, and produce results to fuel future growth and prosperity for all our shareholders.”