After 30 years with The Boeing Company, Sandy Postel retired August 3, 2009, from her post as Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) vice president for Manufacturing, Quality, and Boeing Production System (BPS) Strategy.  In this capacity, she oversaw the manufacture of quality tools, processes, and systems; led the BPS strategy and Commercial Airplanes’ Lean office; implemented the Boeing Production System strategy throughout Commercial Airplanes’ extended value streams; and ensured robust linkages between these production system transformation efforts and Boeing’s enterprisewide Lean+ initiative. 

Prior to this assignment, Sandy served as Vice President/General Manager for Propulsion Systems.  Responsible for managing Boeing’s relationships with engine suppliers Pratt & Whitney, General Electric, and Rolls Royce, Sandy also directed BCA propulsion engineering, integration, and manufacturing activities including systems planning, design, production, flight testing, and certification support for new-manufacture Boeing jetliners as well as the global fleet of some 12,000 airplanes already in service.

Sandy’s other Boeing leadership assignments included BCA vice president for Quality, interim president of Boeing Canada in Winnipeg, Canada; director of operations for Long Range 777 Airplane Development; director of the Interiors Responsibility Center; and director of the Manufacturing Research and Development (MR&D) organization.

She began her Boeing career in 1979 as a chemical process engineer working within MR&D.  Prior to joining the company, she taught biology at the high-school level.

Sandy has garnered many honors and awards over the years.  In 2007, for example, the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) bestowed its Upward Mobility Award on Sandy for her outstanding technical management at the senior level and her service as a role model, leader, and advocate for diversity.  The SWE bestowed the additional honor of naming Sandy a SWE Fellow in October 2009.  Recently, she was named as the SAE J. Cordell Breed winner for outstanding woman leader in the mobility industry.

In 2006, Sandy received the Affirmative Action Award of Excellence from Boeing’s Global Diversity and Employee Rights organization.  Her inclusive leadership was recognized for “innovative efforts to increase opportunities for minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, [and] veterans.”  The award also noted that she has always striven to “further the inclusion of women and minorities in management and leadership positions”.

Sandy’s personal interests include golf, antiques, and hiking.