Boeing names insider Chris Raymond as aftermarket business chief

(Reuters) -Boeing on Thursday named sustainability chief Chris Raymond as the new head of its aftermarket business, succeeding Stephanie Pope, who was announced as the planemaker's chief operating officer on Monday.

Raymond takes over as CEO of Boeing Global Services on Jan. 1, after serving as the company's first chief sustainability officer since October 2020.

While Boeing's commercial aerospace and defense segments have posted negative margins for the first nine months of 2023, Global Services has remained a profitable beacon for the U.S. aerospace giant, responsible for revenues of $17.6 billion in 2022.

Boeing shares closed up 2.1%.

Boeing has estimated mid-single digit revenue growth as the services division approaches the 2025-2026 timeframe.

Raymond is seen as an influential engineer and trouble-shooter who started his career on the iconic C-17 airlifter and later oversaw fighter sales campaigns and efforts to develop autonomy in Boeing's defense unit.

Following two fatal 737 MAX jet crashes which plunged Boeing into its worst crisis in 2018 and 2019, Raymond was brought in to drive efforts to rescue its reputation and win back trust.

He was vice president of integration with the civil arm of Brazil's Embraer during a proposed joint venture, which collapsed following the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, and was previously vice president for sustainability, strategy and corporate development.

"He commands an audience," a colleague said.

Raymond will be succeeded in the top sustainability job by Brian Moran, currently Boeing's vice president of global sustainability policy and partnerships.

Moran also springs from the world of defense, having cut his teeth on contracts for the F/A-18 warplane and as chief of staff to then-Boeing Defense chief Jim Albaugh, his LinkedIn profile showed, before handling press for the jetliner unit.

Based in Europe, he has held a senior sustainability role since 2021 and is familiar with the regulatory environment in Brussels where aviation is under mounting pressure to do more to cut emissions.

(Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru, Valerie Insinna in Washington and Tim Hepher in Paris; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Lisa Shumaker, Jonathan Oatis, Richard Chang and David Gregorio)