He Left Boeing. Now He’s the Jet Maker’s Most Important Person.
Boeing has tried for years to turn itself around. Its new best hope is a former executive who had a front-row seat to the jet manufacturer’s struggles. Pat Shanahan, a 30-year Boeing veteran and engineer by training, has taken over as interim chief executive officer of one of Boeing’s biggest and most problematic suppliers.
His mission: shape up manufacturing at Wichita, Kan.-based Spirit AeroSystems after a series of mishaps have disrupted operations at Boeing, slowing production and leaving the plane maker short of jets it promised to deliver to airlines. “Right now, there’s no person more important to Boeing than Pat," said Jim Albaugh, who once ran Boeing’s commercial airplane unit during Shanahan’s tenure there. “The whole industry needs him to be successful." Spirit, which makes 737 fuselages and other airframe components, recently tapped Shanahan, a member of the company’s board, to replace Tom Gentile, who the company said resigned.
The board is searching for a permanent CEO. Spirit was created when Boeing sold its Wichita and Tulsa, Okla., units in 2005. Boeing accounts for nearly two-thirds of Spirit’s sales; making up the rest are Boeing’s chief rival, , and defense contractors.
Shanahan, 61 years old, said in an interview that the decades he spent working with Spirit as a Boeing executive positioned him to make needed changes. He has sat on Spirit’s board since 2021. He said he has recruited several retired Boeing executives to work at the supplier.
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