Excargodog

At one time they were unequivocally world class. They defined a well run company and in many parts of the world the word “Boeing” was used generically for any large transport aircraft. But they now appear to be making one rookie mistake after another.

The MAX disaster has been beat to death and while I side with the people who believe those mishaps wouldn’t have happened at a US airline, Boeing knew damn well who they were selling those aircraft to. Whatever you think of the maintenance or the piloting skills of those involved, IT WAS AN UNFORCED ERROR. It didn’t need to happen for them to figure out that two AOA indicators are less likely to SIMULTANEOUSLY go wrong than one individual AOA indicator is.

But the problems are more basic even than that. Orville and Wilbur knew you didn’t leave extraneous cr@p flopping around inside your aircraft. Yet that’s just what they are finding in new built MAXs.

https://www.businessinsider.com/boei...-planes-2020-2

Nor is it the first such instance of this. The incredibly long delayed tanker has had so much problem with FOD that the USAF sent generals out to have come-to-Jesus meetings with Boeing on three different occasions and stopped delivery on the badly needed replacement for 1950s era KC-135s a couple of times. The program remains way over budget, way behind contract schedule, and pretty much all the ones that have been delivered have been accepted with known deficiencies that will have to be uograded later. And this is a 767 airframe, scarcely breaking a lot of new ground here.

And then there was it’s recent Starliner launch.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/20/...-failure-orbit

The launch went like clockwork - except someone forgot to set the clock. So the spacecraft successfully arrived at where the International Space Station WOULD have been, had the clock time been set right.

So seriously, what happened? Boeing used to be so damn good, but it seems like just past tense now.

e6bpilot

Decades of GE accountants running the show have finally reared their ugly head. Engineers build airplanes. When you take them out of the process or otherwise marginalize them, this is what happens.
Boeing moved their HQ to Chicago and then opened a union busting plant in Charleston. Meanwhile they used their cash cow products to reward the shareholders and show big numbers to Wall Street and let the basics of their business, building quality airplanes, decay. The press is having a field day with them to the point of being kind of ridiculous about it, but they need to right the ship and that is going to take a long time. You reap what you sow.

dustrpilot

https://amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/602188/
I can’t remember if I posted this or not but it’s a good read if you haven’t read it.


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kaputt

A part of me wonders how much the lack of domestic competition in civilian transport category aircraft has impacted Boeing? There was a time where the United States had multiple aircraft manufacturers competing with one another and producing quality airplanes. Mergers, buyouts, and closures have reduced that to just Boeing. While there has still been some foreign competition, it’s not hard to imagine how that situation makes it far easier for a company to rest on its laurels and feed from the cash cow.

rickair7777

They have all the competition they need in Europe, and they're not doing a very good with that.


And they'll have more competition from China in the third-world markets in about 30 years. But I doubt BA managers care about that, they'll be long gone with lavish retirement/parachute packages.

Excargodog

CHICAGO (AP) — Debris has been found in the fuel tanks of 70% of grounded Boeing 737 Max jets that have been inspected by the company, Boeing confirmed on Saturday.

Inspectors found the debris in 35 out of about 50 jets that were inspected. They are among 400 built in the past year that Boeing hasn't been able to deliver to airline customers.

Boeing temporarily halted production last month because the planes were grounded after crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed 346 people.

Although debris hasn't been linked to those crashes, metal shavings, tools and other objects left in planes during assembly can raise the risk of electrical short-circuiting and fires. On Tuesday the company had said debris was found in “several” planes but it did not give a precise number.

The debris was discovered during maintenance on parked planes, and Boeing said it immediately made corrections in its production system to prevent a recurrence. Those steps include more inspections before fuel tanks are sealed.

“This is unacceptable and won’t be tolerated on any Boeing aircraft when it’s delivered to the customer," the company said in a statement Saturday.

Boeing previously said the issue does not change the company’s belief that the Federal Aviation Administration will certify the plane to fly again this summer.

A Boeing spokesman cautioned against applying the 70% to all 400 jets, saying there's no way to know how many have the same problem until they're all inspected.

https://komonews.com/news/local/debr...d-737-max-jets

Akutan Bandit

They are a military contractor.

The facilitator of unethical empire has become unethical. Surprised?

Respect Eisenhower. His forecasting has become truth.

rickair7777

That's irrelevant to a discussion about BCA.

Mesabah

Yes, great companies once run by engineers, that are now run by Ivy League MBA's, that care only about their own stock portfolios. I highly doubt Boeing survives this, many of the friends I graduated college with work there, and they simply don't care anymore, all of them have their resumes out for other jobs.

Excargodog

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2023...o-end-of-2025/

An excerpt: