Alan Mulally leaves a big legacy behind him at Boeing, which he joined in 1969. Working on all major commercial programmes from the 727 onwards, he rose to fame through his leadership on the 777 programme, where he was vice-president. He later became senior vice-president for aircraft development and, in 1997, president of Boeing's Information, Space and Defense Systems. In 1998 he was appointed to lead Commercial Airplanes out of its production crisis and successfully steered it to recovery from the post-9/11 market depression, latterly overseeing the launch of both the 787 and 747-8 programmes.

Source: Flight International