Originally Posted by
skyward80
I have a feeling that someday the history books will show that these program delays led to the rise of China's AVIC as a major player in the aircraft manufacturing industry. They're years away from that now, but it will happen. You heard it hear first.
Skyward80
Hopefully not. But you may be right. The main reason for these delays is that Boeing decided to contract out much of the component manufacturing to the lowest bidder rather than doing it in-house. The contract suppliers it seems made Boeing some very nice promises. The salesman told Boeing "Oh yeah, we can build that no problem. We've got tremendous experience in doing what you want and we do it cheaper than anyone else." Truth is, they didn't have the experience or know what they were doing. Now Boeing is paying the price in a mis-managed program whose health relies on a bunch of inexperienced suppliers.
Back to China, if you think this is bad for Boeing could you imagine a rice farmer riding to work on a rickshaw then trying to assemble a complex plane? That plane would frighten me.