Boeing: An Unusual Tale

Boeing, one of America's largest airplane manufacturers, has recently underwent both scrutiny and praise from the financial community over its recent actions.

Kelly Ortberg, the newly crowned CEO of the company, has recently unveiled a clean slate of changes for the company. One of which: to change the center of operations of the company from Arlington, VA to Seattle, WA.

Ortberg, unlike his predecessors, has embraced the company's strong production base in Washington State. The area in and around Seattle and Puget Bay is home to some of Boeing's oldest and most productive plants, contributing to the company its vast stockpile of planes.

“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,” Ortberg recently stated. “I plan to be based in Seattle so that I can be close to the commercial airplane programs.”

However, this is coming amid concerns that Boeing is treating its employees unfairly. Boeing's machinist union has committed to strikes in its plant in St. Louis after years of preparation, and many airliners have remained skeptical over the reliability of the company's products, as a malfunction nearly cost the lives of passengers from a broken door plug. Boeing has reported significantly lower revenues than expected.

Fortunately, the company has secured a $2.56 billion contract from the U.S. Air Force in the construction of new E-7A Wedgetail Aircraft, demonstrating the company's strong reputation as a military industrial company.