There’s no question about whether Boeing, the renowned airplane maker, is ready for its new CEO. But there’s a fleet of questions about whether the new chief is ready to decide the future of the company.

And one of the engines driving industry-wide speculation over the future of Boeing is the possible $10 billion buyout of Sikorsky, the United Technologies company that makes commercial helicopters in Coatesville.

One thing’s for sure: Former Chief Operating Officer Dennis Muilenburg knows how Sikorsky might fit in; he managed the $30.9 billion would-be destination for the merger, Boeing Defense Systems, according to a Bloomberg report this week.

“The tough decision that Dennis is going to have to face is what is the transformation of the defense unit?” Frost & Sullivan Vice President for Global Aerospace Development Michel Merluzeau said in the article.

Intense competition for Boeing’s long-range Air Force bomber bid could be a determining factor for its next move.

Muilenburg, whose promotion officially takes effect next week, will also be consumed with “setting a course for the $60 billion commercial plane business and navigating complicated global marketplaces,” the report noted.

“This is a big, long-cycle company that needs somebody running it for an extended period of time,” retiring CEO Jim McNerney said. “This is all by design at a period when Dennis is ready.”

Read more about the big decisions awaiting  Boeing’s new CEO on Bloomberg here, and check out VISTA Today’s initial coverage of the Sikorsky takeover speculation here and later developments here.