Boeing Co(BA) 2022 President and CEO David L. Calhoun's shareholder letter: Charting the Course for Aerospace's Future

Key Highlights from Boeing's 2022 Shareholder Letter

Summary
  • Boeing's commitment to safety, quality, and integrity.
  • Investments in technology and workforce to drive future growth.
  • Progress in commercial and defense product portfolio.
  • Efforts towards sustainable aerospace and community engagement.
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For more than a century, The Boeing Company has been at the forefront of historic innovations that connect people around the world and beyond. Today, our work continues to help chart the course for the future of aerospace.

Every day we work to transform our company to service big defense and commercial needs. There is substantial and growing demand for the products and services we create, with more than $400 billion in open orders. In response to these demands and in light of post-COVID supply chain challenges, a priority is making our aircraft production capabilities more predictable and scalable. We do this work while meeting exacting safety and quality standards that are set by our regulators and customers and reflect our values, and I am incredibly proud of the progress we have made in our journey together.

Our mission—to protect, connect and explore our world and beyond—is supported by our unwavering commitment to strengthening safety through continuous improvement, learning and innovation. We will never forget the lives lost in the 737 MAX accidents. Their memory drives us every day to uphold our responsibility to all who depend on the safety of our products and services.

Despite facing existential challenges in our company’s recent history, there has not been a single year in the last decade when we did not invest substantial time and capital to enhance our capabilities and deliver innovation. We established research and technology centers in Australia, Brazil, China, Europe, the Middle East, India, South Korea and most recently in Japan. We believe the unique local perspectives our teammates bring to the table allow us to collaborate globally to find technology solutions that drive future growth.

Our product portfolio spans an impressive array of commercial and defense products that meet our customers’ needs, including 737-7, 737-10, 777X, KC-46, MQ-25 and the T-7A. That includes classified products that serve the U.S. government and NATO allies—which we cannot disclose—along with services platforms that cater to a global customer base.

Boeing is one of the most sophisticated engineering and technology companies in the world. We specialize in creating the world’s leading aerospace and defense products and solutions. Prioritizing and expanding large-scale capability investments will help us secure our future.

Additionally, distinctive new capabilities will deliver breakthrough benefits to our customers and reshape our industry in our favor, while uncovering new opportunities for growth. As part of our capability-building journey, we grew our workforce by about 23,000 teammates in 2022, primarily in engineering and manufacturing.

Our team works around the clock to create pioneering physical materials, sophisticated digital platforms and advanced production systems. Digital threads increasingly knit together our capabilities from design to production to support. Big data linked to intelligent analytics powers technologies embedded into our products and services while creating more efficient operations.

Wrap all this talent and technology together and what do you get? Autonomous flight. Satellite-guided drones. Augmented reality manufacturing tools. Big leaps forward in sustainable aerospace. Faster design and development cycles. Across Boeing, our people are advancing innovation each and every day.

We will never finish transforming our company. We charted the course of aerospace history through the last century, and we will do the same again over the next one hundred years. Our steadfast commitment to safety, quality, integrity and sustainability leads the way as we operate with discipline, patience and transparency. These principles are tightly woven into the fabric of our values and our culture.

I want to express tremendous appreciation and gratitude to our employees for their care and support of our business and one another, and to our customers, suppliers and regulators for continually helping Boeing become better. I am confident we are on the right path, and I stand inspired by all that our Boeing team is doing today, tomorrow and beyond.

David L. Calhoun
President and CEO

Read the original letter here.