Boeing veterans like choice of outsider

Friday, July 1, 2005

By PAUL NYHAN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Over a 30-year career at The Boeing Co., Tom McCarty has seen five chief executives come and go, and he likes what new CEO James McNerney is not -- a Boeing executive.

The veteran engineer and union negotiator sees a man who isn't burdened with the legacy of Boeing, such as former chief Phil Condit, or of McDonnell Douglas, such as recently ousted leader Harry Stonecipher. Boeing bought McDonnell Douglas in 1997.

"McNerney doesn't have that handicap," McCarty said yesterday. "We might be embarking on kind of a new path."

McCarty doesn't expect his new boss to radically alter the company's direction. And McNerney is no stranger to the company, having served on its board for the last four years while he ran 3M Co.

But without the perception of a bias towards either Boeing or McDonnell Douglas, McNerney could be in a better position to represent a company that contains both, McCarty added.

Boeing engineer Mark Schuetz also is optimistic about his new boss. He hopes McNerney will boost spending on research and development.

"I think people are excited he might be willing to spend the money to get commercial airplanes rolling again," said Schuetz, a software engineer on the F-22 fighter program at Boeing Field.

The enthusiasm of McCarty and Schuetz, however, is tempered by the fact that McNerney poses some of the same threats to their jobs as past chief executives. Like Stonecipher, McNerney spent many years at General Electric Co., renowned for its cost-cutting. And during his tenure at 3M, McNerney cut 5,000 jobs.

Also, McNerney likely will not back off Boeing's efforts to send its work, and jobs, around the globe, McCarty said.

"Unfortunately, I think they will be looking for more globalization, and, of course, that really impacts the jobs that are going to be done here in the Puget Sound," McCarty said.

McNerney will now oversee the renegotiation of the Machinists and engineering labor contracts, although the talks are typically run out of Seattle, 2,000 miles away from McNerney's office in Chicago.

Talks between the International Association of Machinists District Lodge 751 and Boeing are already under way. The union declined to comment on the executive change yesterday. The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace begins formal negotiations in the fall.

After three CEOs in the last 19 months, some veteran workers welcomed the stability.

"I guess it's a step up, from Harry (Stonecipher), from a union point of view," said Steve Vergala, who works at Boeing's Everett plant.

"All I can do is hope for the best."

P-I reporter Paul Nyhan can be reached at 206-448-8145 or paulnyhan@seattlepi.com. This report includes information from Bloomberg News.

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