Australia’s Qantas back Boeing to bounce back from crisis

DUBAI (Reuters) -Australian airline Qantas on Tuesday backed Boeing (NYSE:) to bounce back from an unprecedented crisis that has led to an overhaul of the American planemaker’s management and drawn scrutiny and criticism from some of its biggest customers.

Boeing is searching for a new chief executive after announcing that Dave Calhoun would step down by the end of the year following back-to-back crises that were exacerbated by the blowout of the a loose door plug on a Boeing plane in January.

“Aviation needs a strong Boeing,” Qantas Chief Executive Vanessa Hudson (NYSE:) told reporters at an airline summit in Dubai.

Hudson, who took over as the head of Australia’s biggest airline last year, said she had spoken with Boeing management and was confident they are focused on addressing quality issues.

“Everything that we’ve heard from Boeing gives me the sense that they will get on top of it,” she said.

Asked about what qualities Boeing’s next CEO should have, Hudson said any chief executive should be connected with frontline employees, customers and key stakeholders.

“I would suggest that for Boeing, that they are important qualities to really understand how a basic organisation operates,” she said.