Aircraft
Boeing's Deal Pledges Return to Stability, Schedule Fidelity
Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stan Deal expects order announcements in Paris as he aims to reduce delivery delays and assuage angry customers.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stan Deal (right) and Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker appear at the 2022 Farnborough Airshow to mark the sale of 25 Boeing 737 Max 10s. (Photo: David McIntosh)
Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stan Deal (right) and Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker appear at the 2022 Farnborough Airshow to mark the sale of 25 Boeing 737 Max 10s. (Photo: David McIntosh)

Anyone attending the Paris Air Show in 2009 likely remembers the outburst of Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker directed at Boeing. Executives at the U.S. airframer, he said, should spend less time “wining and dining” and more time on ensuring timely aircraft deliveries. Qatar Airways had ordered sixty 787s but production issues at Boeing left delivery schedules in limbo.

Long-time Boeing executive Stan Deal became CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes only in 2019, but he recalls the criticism.