Instead they waited barely a few years longer and got converted high time 757s for the same price that they could have gotten brand new 757Fs off the line, and I bet someone got a bonus for that. Then consider all the extra fuel and labor expense they spent on running the 727s longer than they should have. They're doing the same thing now, they could have secured new narrowbody and widebody freighters for pennies on the dollar during the height of covid. Instead they diverted that money to shareholders. In 5 years they're going to be begging to take deliveries of clapped out converted 777-300ERFs instead of 777-XFs or A350Fs.

I was told the story a long time ago; in the very early 1980's Fred tried to work a deal for new 57's from Boeing and asked if the bellys could be modified slightly to hold 2 additional LD3 containers. As the story goes, Boeing told him to pack sand. UPS asked the same question a year or so later and with the economy in the tank and airlines cancelling and deffering their orders from Boeing, Boeing agreed to the change. This was the birth of the Package Freighter.

Too bad Boeing threw away all their tools and fixtures for the 757.

This narrative is a little silly. Would it not still be cheaper to retool than to go clean-sheet? Imagine a 757 that employs new materials, new electronics, and new engine technology.

Here's the problem - Boeing already has an aircraft in the 180 seat market. Boeing won't steal its own market share from these stupid MAX contraptions. No net gain for Boeing. Lack of jigs isn't the issue.

We are where we are because Boeing enslaved themselves to WN at a critical time. That's it.

I respectfully disagree. Boeing is the one who said they threw away all there fixtures. Note, they did not do a clean sheet design, either.

Being where we are because they are enslaved to WN does not make sense to me. They were not enslaved enough to develop the Dreamliner.

Different market, plane size and range. Apples to oranges