NEW YORK — Boeing’s new CEO told workers on Wednesday the company has serious culture problems and cannot afford another mistake, according to a report.
At an hour-long meeting, Kelly Ortberg, who joined Boeing as CEO in August, urged employees to take accountability when they see problems, the Wall Street Journal reported after reviewing a recording of the gathering.
“Boeing has faced many highs and lows,” Ortberg said. “We’re at a low here, folks.”
“Don’t sit at the water cooler and bitch about people,” he said. “Let’s focus on the task at hand.”
Ortberg also recounted a conversation he had with President-elect Donald Trump in which the two discussed potential tariffs.
Ortberg told workers a trade war with China would weigh heavily on Boeing, the newspaper said.
The meeting came about two-and-a-half weeks after Boeing workers in the Seattle area ratified a new contract, ending a more than seven-week strike that shuttered two assembly plants and idled some 33,000 workers.
The strike had exacerbated Boeing’s already precarious outlook after a January incident in which a fuselage panel blew out mid-flight on a 737 MAX plane operated by Alaska Airlines.
Ortberg has previously called for a “fundamental culture change” at Boeing, emphasizing that it will take time to turn around a company that has also struggled with space setbacks and money-losing defense contracts.
On Oct. 12, Boeing unveiled plans to reduce its global workforce by 10 percent over the coming months.
Boeing said earlier this week it intends to cut almost 2,200 jobs in the US state of Washington, which is home to many of its oldest factories.
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