He Left Boeing. Now He's the Jet Maker's Most Important Person.

Pat Shanahan, a former executive at Boeing, has taken over as interim CEO of Spirit AeroSystems, one of Boeing's major suppliers. Shanahan's mission is to improve manufacturing at Spirit AeroSystems, which has experienced disruptions that have slowed production at Boeing and caused a shortage of promised jets. Shanahan's experience working with Spirit as a Boeing executive has positioned him to make necessary changes, and he has recruited retired Boeing executives to work at the supplier. Boeing has agreed to provide financial support to Spirit under a tentative deal to increase production. [Extracted from the article]