Randy's Journal: Archives
07 July 2005
It's in our hands
We had a little bit of news at Boeing just before the Independence Day holiday. You may have heard that a new CEO took the reins of the company.
And he's already paid a visit to us here in Puget Sound. Less than a week after he was named chairman, president and CEO, Jim McNerney visited with Boeing Commercial Airplanes employees in Everett and Renton.
In Everett, Boeing CEO Jim McNerney (left) and BCA president Alan Mulally enjoy some interaction with employees during a visit to the 777 final assembly area.
We got our first chance to meet the new CEO Wednesday morning inside the Everett facility where we build the 747, 767, 777, and will soon build the 787. About 2,000 employees filled the factory floor for a talk and a brief Q & A session with McNerney and BCA President Alan Mulally.
The backdrop, appropriately enough, was a Japan Airlines 777-300ER, powered by a GE engine, the most powerful commercial jet engine in the world. I say appropriately, because McNerney's a guy who really understands the concept of nonstop, point-to-point flying that this airplane represents. Before heading the 3M Company, he led GE Aircraft Engines in its development of the powerful pair of engines makes the long-range 777 possible.
McNerney told employees that the 777 embodies the Boeing strategy. Customers want it, he said, and people who fly want to be on these airplanes.
On the factory floor in Renton, Mulally and McNerney greet employees.
At the Renton factory in the afternoon, McNerney acknowledged the "mind-boggling" manufacturing improvements that have taken place on the Boeing 737 line, and how the production changes in Renton have become a source of learning for other areas of the company.
Our new CEO said that the strategy for Boeing is growth, but that a big execution challenge lies ahead as we ramp up production. "We are going to convert commercial success to business success like it's never been done before," he said. "It's right here. It's in our hands."
I think he hit all the right notes with the employees as we head into a crucial turning point in the commercial aviation business, summing it all up, "I am proud to be a Boeing employee, working at one of the most important companies in the world."
That really hit home for me, because I feel the same way.