Washington

SarahD

(1,732 posts) Wed Mar 13, 2024, 02:18 PM Mar 2024

We miss Boeing. The old Boeing.

I know several people who retired from Boeing after long careers. They were proud of their airplanes and union to the core. The company moved its corporate HQ to Chicago for no other reason than bribery in the guise of tax incentives. Rank and file Boeing employees predicted the worst, but they didn't know how right they were. They built a company based on quality and had it taken from them by a bunch of biz school wizards who thought they could produce planes the way Ron Popiel produced kitchen gadgets. This article may not explain everything that went wrong with Boeing, but it conveys a good basic understanding.
https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/why-boeings-problems-with-737-max-began-more-than-25-years-ago#:~:text=Once%20again%2C%20Boeing's%20737%20MAX,fuselage%20panel%20on%20January%205.

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We miss Boeing. The old Boeing. (Original Post) SarahD Mar 2024 OP

The long slide downhill began years earlier, when Boeing bought the failing McDonnell-Douglas pnwmom Mar 2024 #1

Seems Boeing reached its peak with the great 747. It's been slow decline since then. brush Mar 2024 #2

Same things happened to several great American companies, like IBM and GE. sinkingfeeling Mar 2024 #3

The 787 program was clearly in the category of New Boeing RainCaster Mar 2024 #4

pnwmom

(109,638 posts)

1. The long slide downhill began years earlier, when Boeing bought the failing McDonnell-Douglas

Reply to SarahD (Original post)

Wed Mar 13, 2024, 02:27 PM

Mar 2024

and then quickly put the MD bean counters in charge of the combined company.

Yes, it's been painful for all the good engineers who spent their careers with Boeing to see what's happened to the company since the MD takeover.

Have you seen this piece by John Oliver? It's sadly, infuriatingly funny.

brush

(58,042 posts)

2. Seems Boeing reached its peak with the great 747. It's been slow decline since then.

Reply to SarahD (Original post)

Wed Mar 13, 2024, 03:45 PM

Mar 2024

sinkingfeeling

(53,259 posts)

3. Same things happened to several great American companies, like IBM and GE.

Reply to SarahD (Original post)

Wed Mar 13, 2024, 04:02 PM

Mar 2024

RainCaster

(11,657 posts)

4. The 787 program was clearly in the category of New Boeing

Reply to SarahD (Original post)

Wed Mar 13, 2024, 06:51 PM

Mar 2024

First was the notion of outsourcing the engineering to Russia. Not only were the engineers cheaper, but they needed fewer seats for the specialized software. Of course the communications with the US teams didn't go well, but that's OK, it was just teeth-cutting, right?

Then there were all the issues of dealing with a very new material. Carbon fiber just didn't store or machine like aluminum does.

Fasteners were another issue.

Then there was the debacle of the "Jobs Lifter", that over-sized airplane created to ship the prefabbed body tubes across the country.

All those new ideas about JIT supplies. The whole notion of stretching the suppliers out on payments while demanding faster delivery and lower prices. Machine shops across the country had delivery problems directly related to immigration raids because those were the only employees they could find to work for the low wages Boeing demanded with their procurement system. This has become a key part of Boeing's Future.

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