SEATTLE (Reuters) - Boeing Co said on Tuesday it appointed veteran Raymond Conner as the head of its commercial plane making unit, replacing another longtime Boeing executive, Jim Albaugh.
Conner, 57, was most recently in charge of sales and customer support for the unit.
The change is immediate. Albaugh, 62, is to retire on October 1 after 37 years with the company. Albaugh took over the commercial plane unit in September 2009 after running Boeing's defense unit, as the company looked for a steady hand to guide the early production of the troubled 787 Dreamliner program.
The change comes just weeks before the Farnborough airshow, one of the key events in the company's calendar where it shows off its latest planes and usually announces new orders.
(Reporting by Bill Rigby; editing by Matthew Lewis)