From employees

McNerney "has a good track record. Anyone is better than what they had."

— Dan Linthicum

"[Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Alan Mulally has] been out there. He's a person that's been in the public eye. I've never heard of this other guy."

— James Dobbins

"I think they need somebody fresh — new direction."

— Tony Perry

— Rob Pettit

"Everybody's taking a wait-and-see attitude."

— Larry Marrell

From

Washington, D.C.

"I think this will help settle the situation here [on Capitol Hill]. It's a new leader who has an outstanding reputation."

— U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks

From Wall Street

"In our view, he has been the top choice for several years, as he has proven operating skills as well as aerospace and defense background."

— George Shapiro

"If McNerney can perform at Boeing the way he did at GE and 3M, operating margins should be able to reach their potential. McNerney is a very, very strong operational man."

— Steve Hoedt

"We've known Jim from his years running GE's aircraft engine division, and he is clearly the best possible choice for Boeing. He's one of the industry stars — a good finance man with excellent customer relations and skills."

— John Leahy

"He's got the GE cachet, and that's tough to beat. GE was the one aerospace manufacturing company that really satisfied investors."

— Richard Aboulafia

Contributing to this report were Seattle Times staff writers Nick Martin, Emily Heffter and Alicia Mundy and The Associated Press, Bloomberg News and Reuters wire services.