SEATTLE — After one year on the job, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg has earned high praise from aerospace analysts and airline customers.

The soft-spoken and mild-mannered CEO came out of retirement to take the top job at Boeing last August, at a time when the company was reeling from disaster.

In January 2024, a panel flew off a Boeing 737 MAX 9, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane and disrupting what was meant to be the aerospace manufacturer’s comeback year. The COVID-19 pandemic had roiled its supply chain and two fatal MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 soiled Boeing’s reputation among safety regulators.

A year ago, Boeing’s then-CEO had stepped down, production in its commercial factories had slowed and 33,000 Machinists in the company’s Puget Sound factories were gearing up to go

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