Exclusive: Ford's Mulally Got Wings at Boeing

DETROIT (TheStreet) -- Alan Mulally was among the 2 million people who watched the first flight of the Boeing 787 this month, which is not surprising. Before Mulally became CEO of Ford(F) in 2006, Boeing(BA) was his life for 38 years, and he had a primary role in the 787's early development.

"A first flight is just a magical thing -- I thought it was fantastic," Mulally said in an interview with TheStreet. "It's going to change the world, now that you have an even smaller airplane than the 777, that's going to fly as far as the 777. Think what that means: New markets, point-to-point markets."

Mulally, who was also instrumental in development of the 777, spoke a few weeks before the 2010 Detroit Auto Show, where Ford will unveil a variety of new products.

Alan Mulally, president and chief executive officer of Ford

Those products will include the 2011 Ford Focus, one of the first cars to fully embody his vision for the company: an enhanced-technology, fuel-efficient vehicle developed during an economic crisis on a global platform -- and yes, that also describes the 777 and the 787.

It is clear that Mulally's Boeing experience was sufficiently transferable that he could take over a downtrodden American business icon, manage it through the deepest recession in 70 years, and watch it emerge as a corporate star with higher market share, vast consumer acceptance and a 2009 stock price increase north of 300%. Shares were trading at $10.15, down 5 cents, at 10:20 a.m. EST Tuesday.

After successfully developing both the 777 and the 787, "Alan Mulally, if he continues to do what he is doing at Ford, will be viewed as the most impressive executive of this decade," says Joe Leonard, a longtime Mulally friend who spent 40 years in aviation and aerospace and recently retired as chairman of AirTran(AAI).