Rank Schrontz, CEO of Boeing, dies at the age of 92

Frank Schrontz, who led US aerospace giant Boeing through a decade of formidable competition between 1986 and 1996, died last Saturday at the age of 92. Lawyer by training, Schrontz led the company into an era of innovationThe decade in which the Boeing 777 was designed and quality standards were raised. After studying the operations initiated by Japanese automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp. Boeing has been updated to compete against its European rival Airbus SE.

The company is not going through the best moment after the air accident that occurred last January, in which a plane lost part of the fuselage in mid-flight.

Although Schrontz had no engineering background, It promoted leaders such as engineers Philip ConditHis successor as CEO of Boeing, W Alan Mullally Who ran the company’s commercial aircraft division in the late 1990s before taking the reins of another major company, Ford Motor Company.

Under the supervision of Schrontz, Boeing reinvented long-haul travel with the twin-engine 777the company’s best-selling wide-body aircraft, and Redesign of the famous 747 jumbo jet For a new generation of airlines. The single-aisle 737 upgrade was a sales success.

Schrontz oversaw one of the largest expansions in Boeing’s history, when sales rose to $35 billion in 1995 (32.5 million euros at today’s exchange rate), up from $16 billion (14.8 million euros) a decade earlier.

Necessary changes

Global slowdown in aircraft orders yet The 1991 Persian Gulf War affected Boeing He led Srontz to reform the company: Nearly 40,000 jobs were eliminated. In 1995, the largest aircraft manufacturer, which was headquartered in Seattle at the time, had about 105,000 employees. “Trying to turn this company around without a crisis was not easy,” he said in an interview with Fortune magazine in 1995. “We had 75 years of history and we were very successful. There was a strong sense of “why change?”

Schrontz directed Boeing’s $3.2 billion acquisition of Rockwell International Corp.’s aerospace and defense divisions in 1996. He also helped with Merger with the premier manufacturer of military aircraft, McDonnell Douglas. in 1997. The $16.3 billion (€15 million) deal was completed after his retirement as company president. Boeing, now headquartered in Northern Virginia, is one of the largest American exporters.

During his tenure, Boeing was appointed prime contractor for the International Space Station program in 1993.It is the largest international space project ever implemented. By the time Schrontz stepped down as CEO in 1996, Boeing had reduced production costs, increased capacity, and improved production processes, helping to create its new flagship product: 777 wide body.

Executive “key”.

Schrontz was “charming but essential,” former Boeing CEO Carolyn Curvey said in a 2017 interview. He regularly sought the opinions of employees, including plant engineers and mechanics. Schrontz asked difficult business and technical questions that helped shape the aircraft developed under his leadership, e.g 737 The next generation.

Corvi said he was “a really good leader and a really good businessman.” “But he also has a humanitarian side that makes him care about people.”

Frank Anderson Schrontz was born on December 14, 1931 in Boise, Idaho. In 1954, he graduated with a law degree from the University of Idaho in Boise. Four years later, he earned an MBA from Harvard University.

Schrontz spent most of his career at Boeing. He started as a contracts coordinator in 1958 Before working as an executive in various departments including sales, marketing and planning. In 1973, Schrontz left the company to become Assistant Secretary of the United States Air Force. He spent the last year of President Gerald Ford’s administration as Deputy Secretary of Defense.

Schrontz returned to Boeing in 1977 as vice president of contract planning and management. He spent the next four years as general manager of the company’s commercial aircraft division. Responsible for manufacturing the 707, 727 and 737 aircraftHe became head of the unit in 1984.