Boeing Chairman and CEO Phil Condit speaks to the media after the company’s annual general meeting on April 28, 2003 in Chicago.
Scott Olson | Getty Images
Boom Supersonic, which plans to bring supersonic jets into commercial service by the end of the decade, has added former Boeing CEO Phil Condit as an advisor.
It’s the latest example of a former Boeing CEO staying active in aerospace scandals despite his tenure.
Dennis Muilenburg, who was ousted from office as CEO of Boeing in December 2019, now leads a special-purpose acquisition company that seeks to acquire a company in the aerospace, defense or air mobility industries.
The 79-year-old Condit with his training as an engineer will support Boom in the development of a prototype of a supersonic jet. His time as Boeing’s leader will be beneficial as Boom navigates a future where aerospace companies are a hot commodity.
“Since our inception, our consultants have played an active and decisive role in building the supersonic future,” said Boom founder and CEO Blake Scholl in a statement.
Founded in 2014, the start-up has endeavored to revive commercial supersonic flights. The market evaporated when the Concorde made its last flight in October 2003, less than two months before Condit resigned as Boeing CEO after a scandal over the procurement of defense contracts.
Since Condit left Boeing almost 18 years ago, he’s been relatively quiet.
In a statement on joining Boom, Condit said he was “drawn to the significant advances the team has already made in developing a sustainable supersonic aircraft”.
Building an airliner that can fly at supersonic or supersonic speeds was also a goal of Muilenburg when he was running Boeing.
In 2018, Boeing showed a representation of a hypersonic jet that could fly between the United States and Japan in three hours. Muilenburg was in his third year as CEO with an extensive backlog and profit close to a record high.
In his view, building a passenger jet that could fly as fast as Mach 5 was a reasonable long-term goal for the company.
“I think they will become a reality in the next decade or two,” Muilenburg told CNBC at the 2017 Paris Air Show. “We see future innovations where you can connect around the world in about two hours.”
Muilenburg was ousted as CEO of Boeing after the 737 Max scandal in December 2019. He now runs a SPAC, New Vista Acquisition Corp, which raised $ 240 million after listing on the Nasdaq.
SPACs make it easier for executives to get a company public than the traditional way. However, you typically have 18 months to buy a target company. If a deal is not completed during this period, tax regulations require them to return all funds to investors. A New Vista spokesman said Muilenburg had refused to comment on his latest effort.
In a New Vista statement posted on Nasdaq’s Twitter feed, Muilenburg said, “Companies with new technologies and new applications are expected to accelerate change in established industries at an unprecedented rate.”
– CNBC’s Meghan Reeder contributed to this article.
Comments are closed.