Boeing- Shakeup and Rebuild...

[Patrick AL]

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8rlk5dxyzno


Boeing raises pay offer in bid to end seven-week strike
4 hours ago
João da Silva
Business reporter
Getty Images Boeing workers on a picket line near the entrance to a Boeing facility in Seattle, Washington. Getty Images

Striking Boeing workers are set to vote on a new offer from the aviation giant, which includes a 38% pay rise over the next four years.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) union, which represents more than 30,000 striking workers, has endorsed the offer and says it will hold a ballot of its members on Monday.

The walkout started on 13 September, leading to a dramatic slowdown in production and deepening a crisis at the firm.

The union had previously called for a 40% pay increase and workers have rejected two previous offers, including the last offer of a 35% rise.

As well as the proposed pay rise, the latest offer includes a $12,000 bonus (£9,304) for the workers if a deal is reached, up from $7,000.

"It is time for our members to lock in these gains and confidently declare victory," an IAM social media post said.

"We believe asking members to stay on strike longer wouldn't be right as we have achieved so much success."

Boeing said the offer would see average annual pay rise to $119,309 over the next four years.

"We encourage all of our employees to learn more about the improved offer and vote on Monday, November 4," Boeing said in a statement.

The new offer also includes changes to workers' retirement plans.

[propstrap]

From payscale.com

Sep 2, 2024 — Airbus pays its employees an average of $91,158 a year. Salaries at Airbus range from an average of $57,255 to $145,288 a year. Airbus employees ...

Embraer appears to be quite a bit less...

The US is pricing itself out of competition, in addition the brand is not the favorite girl at the dance...

[Patrick AL]

Let's hope that Boeing can now seriously look at rebuilding their production and quality control lines, invest the necessary $$$, and begin to bring Boeing back to former quality and glory.


https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0mz9ml473mo

Boeing workers have voted to accept the aviation giant's latest pay offer, ending a damaging seven-week-long walkout.

Under the new contract, they will get a 38% pay rise over the next four years.

Striking workers can start returning to their jobs as early as Wednesday, or as late as 12 November, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) union says.

The walkout by around 30,000 Boeing workers started on 13 September, leading to a dramatic slowdown at the plane maker's factories and deepening a crisis at the company.

IAM said 59% of striking workers voted in favour of the new deal, which also includes a one-off $12,000 (£9,300) bonus, as well as changes to workers' retirement plans.

"Through this victory and the strike that made it possible, IAM members have taken a stand for respect and fair wages in the workplace," union leader Jon Holden said.

The union had previously called for a 40% pay increase and workers had rejected two previous offers from the company.

"While the past few months have been difficult for all of us, we are all part of the same team," said Boeing's chief executive Kelly Ortberg.

"There is much work ahead to return to the excellence that made Boeing an iconic company."

In a sign of how seriously the White House took the strike at one of the country's most important companies, acting US Labor Secretary Julie Su flew to Seattle last month to help with negotiations.

[Patrick AL]

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0x1r60w4xo


Boeing plea deal tied to fatal crashes rejected
1 hour ago

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Natalie Sherman
BBC News
A Boeing plea deal intended to resolve a case related to two fatal crashes of its planes has been rejected by a US judge.
The plane maker had originally agreed with the US government in July to plead guilty to one count of criminal fraud, face independent monitoring, and pay a $243m (£191m) fine.
However, Judge Reed O'Connor struck down the agreement on Thursday, saying it gave the court too little power over the monitoring process.
Family members of the 346 people killed in the crashes welcomed the ruling, describing the plea deal as a "get-out-of-jail-free card for Boeing".
The Department of Justice said it was reviewing the decision. Boeing did not immediately comment.
In his decision, Judge O'Connor said the government's previous years of overseeing the firm had "failed".
"At this point, the public interest requires the Court to step in," he wrote.
He said the proposed agreement did not require Boeing to comply with the monitor's recommendations and gave the company a say in selecting a candidate.
Those issues had also been raised by some families of those killed on the flights, who had criticised it as a "sweetheart" arrangement that did not properly hold the firm to account for the deaths.
Judge O'Connor's also focused on the deal's requirements that race be considered when hiring the monitor, which he said would undermine confidence in the pick.
He said he was concerned with the "shifting and contradictory explanations of how the plea agreement's diversity-and-inclusion provision will... operate".
"In a case of this magnitude, it is in the utmost interest of justice that the public is confident this monitor selection is done based solely on competency," he wrote.
"The parties' DEI efforts only serve to undermine this confidence in the government and Boeing's ethics and anti-fraud efforts."
Ike and Susan Riffel of California, who lost their two sons, Melvin and Bennett, said the judge had done "the right thing" in rejecting the proposed agreement.
"This deal didn't hold anyone accountable for the deaths of 346 people and did nothing to protect the flying public," they said in a statement supplied by their lawyer.
They said they hoped the ruling would pave the way for "real justice".
Can Boeing turn it around?
An ongoing crisis
Boeing and the Department of Justice have 30 days to develop a new plan in response to the ruing.
The plane maker has been struggling to emerge from the shadow cast by two, near-identical crashes of its 737 Max planes in 2018 and 2019.
The aerospace giant was plunged back into crisis in January when a door panel on a new Boeing plane operated by Alaska Airlines blew off soon after take-off.
The incident reignited questions about what Boeing had done to improve its safety and quality record since the accidents, which were tied to the company's flight control system.
The door panel malfunction happened shortly before the end of a three-year period of increased monitoring and reporting.
Boeing had agreed to the monitoring as part of a 2021 plea deal to resolve a charge it had deceived regulators over the flight control system.
In May, the Department of Justice said Boeing had violated the terms of that agreement, opening up the possibility of prosecution.
Instead, the two sides struck another deal, angering families who had hoped to see the company brought to trial.
In the ruling, Judge O'Connor wrote it was "not clear what all" Boeing had done to breach the 2021 agreement.
Nonetheless, he wrote, "taken as true that Boeing breached the [deal], it is fair to say that the government's attempt to ensure compliance has failed".
Erin Appelbaum, partner at Kreindler & Kreindler, which represents some families of those killed on the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, called Thursday's ruling an "excellent decision and a significant victory" for the victims' families.
"We anticipate a significant renegotiation of the plea deal that incorporates terms truly commensurate with the gravity of Boeing's crimes," she said.
"It's time for the [Department of Justice] to end its lenient treatment of Boeing and demand real accountability."

[heisan]

From $ 5.7 billion----down to $ 3.999 999 999.99!

Just gotta love politician speak. 'Exact same plane', except that the reduced fee was for 3 year old undelivered planes, retrofitted, and without air to air refuelling capabilities and a few other contractual requirements that could only be provided on a custom build.

[Patrick AL]

[Patrick AL]

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gxvkq109ko


'It's still in shambles': Can Boeing come back from crisis?


This has been a miserable year for Boeing. Not only has it struggled to cope with a safety and quality control crisis, it has lost billions of dollars following a strike by workers that paralysed production at two of its biggest factories.

Even its space programme has been in trouble. Two astronauts were left stranded on the International Space Station in June after their Boeing Starliner capsule developed a potential fault, which would have made returning to Earth in it too dangerous.

On top of all this, the company faces a crisis of confidence from within its own ranks, says Bjorn Fehrm, an aeronautical and economic analyst at industry consultants Leeham Company.

"People in Boeing don't believe in words from top management any more," he says.

Sam Mohawk is a 51-year-old quality assurance investigator at Boeing's factory in Renton near Seattle, a huge plant where the 737 Max is built. It is the company's best-selling aircraft, but one with a chequered safety record.

Earlier this year Mr Mohawk came forward as a whistleblower, claiming that chaos on the factory floor in the years since the Covid-19 pandemic had led to thousands of faulty or "non-conforming" parts going missing, and potentially being fitted aboard aircraft that have since been sent to customers.

"The whole system was just in shambles," he says of that period. "It [had] kind of just broken down."

His allegations came to light in June when they were referred to during a congressional hearing in Washington DC into safety failures at the aerospace giant.

During the session, Boeing's top bosses were accused by Republican Senator Josh Hawley of "strip-mining" the company for profit and cutting corners on safety in order to boost earnings.

David Calhoun, who was Boeing's chief executive at the time, said he "didn't recognise" Mr Hawley's depiction of the company. "That is not the way we operate," Mr Calhoun said back then. "I am proud of every action we have taken."

David Calhoun was previously Boeing's chief executive

Since then, Boeing has appointed a new chief executive, Kelly Ortberg, who has pledged to "restore trust" in the business, overhaul its corporate culture and prioritise the safety of passengers. The company is also in the process of implementing a comprehensive safety and quality plan, which was launched earlier in the year.

But according to Mr Mohawk, who still works at Boeing, the drive to build planes as quickly as possible in order to maximise revenues remains. The accountants, he insists, are "100%" running the operation.

"Nothing has changed," says Mr Mohawk. "Our executives talk to the press and say, 'quality and safety is our number one priority'. But it's just the same."

Boeing rejects Mr Mohawk's claims. It insists they have been thoroughly investigated and that none of them were found to be valid.

In a statement, it said: "Boeing data systems do track parts, including non-conforming parts. The investigations into Mr Mohawk's claims found no evidence that defective parts were installed on Boeing planes, and none of the issues raised affected safety."
Alamy A close-up image of a Boeing 737 aircraft on the left and a photo of Sam Mohawk on the rightAlamy
Whistleblower Sam Mohawk says: "Our executives talk to the press and say, 'quality and safety is our number one priority'. But it's just the same"

Another Boeing employee called Nathan (not his real name), who works in the company's Everett factory in Washington state, where the 777 is built, describes low staff morale and corners being cut on the production line. Employees "don't always follow the rules because they feel the pressure from their manager, and so they are not taking steps to ensure their own safety", he claims.

But Mike Dunlop, an aerospace industry veteran and author of a book about turning around failing businesses, argues that Boeing has in fact already begun the process of transforming itself by going back to basics.

He believes many of Boeing's problems result from the arrogance of the company's management in the past, as it sought to cut costs in an effort to make more money. Recently, he says, there have been some improvements.

"I've seen the biggest changes in the company since the 1960s. What Kelly Ortberg is doing is focusing back on their core principles, which is to build airplanes as effectively and safely as possible, and be a reliable supplier to the airlines."

Arguably, the market needs Boeing to be healthy. It remains a huge company, employing more than 150,000 people directly, and countless more in supply chains around the world. It is a significant contributor to the US economy.

But some insiders argue that it now has a credibility problem and needs to restore confidence.


Crashes and the 737 Max

Boeing's challenging year began on 5 January with a routine evening flight from Portland International Airport in Oregon to Ontario, California. The plane, a brand-new Boeing 737 Max operated by Alaska Airlines, had taken off minutes earlier and was climbing when something went badly wrong.

"Er, yeah, we'd like to go down," a female voice said over the radio as the crisis erupted at 16,000ft. "Alaska 1282 declaring an emergency… we're descending to 10,000… we're depressurised."

The Boeing 737 Max was forced to make an emergency landing

Moments earlier on the flight deck, First Officer Emily Wiprud had been exchanging routine messages with air traffic control, then there was a loud bang, a sudden rush of wind and her radio headset was torn off. Air pressure in the aircraft plummeted, as did the temperature.

Ms Wiprud and the captain hurriedly put on oxygen masks, then worked together with calm urgency to bring the damaged aircraft to the ground.

What had happened was deeply disturbing. A panel fitted over an unused emergency exit had not been bolted into place properly and had come away as the plane was climbing, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigated the incident.

The passengers were still strapped in and no one was seriously hurt. But as investigators pointed out, it could have been much worse.

What made the incident stand out was the fact that the 737 Max was Boeing's newest aircraft and its bestselling model in history.

Since its entry into service, more than 1,600 have been sent to airlines and a further 4,800 are on order. But even before this, its safety record was tarnished.


In late 2018, an aircraft went down in the sea off the coast of Indonesia. Four months later another plane crashed minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. A total of 346 people were killed.

Both accidents were ultimately blamed on a poorly designed piece of flight control software. This had been fitted to address handling quirks on the new plane, and prevent pilots, who were used to earlier versions of the 737, from needing expensive retraining.

In practice, it became active at the wrong time, and forced both aircraft into catastrophic dives, according to investigators.
Did cost cutting 'jeopardise safety'?

Some critics blame these accidents on a focus on the bottom line at the expense of safety. In a statement, The Foundation for Aviation Safety, which is chaired by ex-Boeing whistleblower Ed Pierson, said: "Attention to share price and profit margins alone has proven to be a flawed strategy."

In the aftermath of those crashes, the 737 Max was grounded for 20 months as regulators examined every aspect of its design.

The company faced criticism over its corporate culture. A congressional report released in September 2020 found that Boeing's rush to build new aircraft as quickly as possible while cutting costs had "jeopardised the safety of the flying public" – although its findings were described as "partisan" by one leading Republican.

The 737 Max aircraft was grounded for 20 months

The incident in Portland, however, was the result of the failure by Boeing engineers to bolt the door panel back on properly, after it had been removed to repair manufacturing flaws. Yet it placed the company in the spotlight again.

In particular, it drew attention to a series of continuing quality problems that had been occurring behind the scenes at the aircraft-maker and at its main supplier Spirit AeroSystems, which makes a number of large aircraft components including the main body.

These included manufacturing defects affecting parts of fuselages, tail and rudder assemblies, as well as sealants applied as protection against the effect of lightning strikes in central fuel tanks.

But the incident also placed a renewed focus on claims made by whistleblowers from within both companies, who had suggested that the pressure from Boeing to produce aircraft quickly, and ramp up production, had compromised safety on both the 737 and 787 programmes.
EPA People with placards sit behind then-Boeing CEO, David CalhounEPA
David Calhoun (centre) testifies amid a safety probe into Boeing's practices

The sudden deaths of two other whistleblowers – John Barnett, who had worked in Boeing's 787 factory in South Carolina, and Josh Dean, who had been employed by Spirit – generated further headlines in 2024. It resulted in pushing the wider story about Boeing once again into the news.

US politicians made their feelings clear. Richard Blumenthal, head of the Senate subcommittee on investigations said: "Boeing has put profits and speed of production ahead of quality and safety, and ultimately, that failing is at the core of its current difficulties."
The strike that 'cost Boeing $5.5 billion'

After the Portland incident, Boeing was ordered by the US Department of Transportation to produce a comprehensive action plan "to address its systemic quality control and production issues".

The aerospace giant responded by publishing a detailed strategy aimed at improving its production systems, gaining more control over its supply chain, and encouraging employees to speak up on safety and quality control issues.

It also promised to strengthen its training programmes and overhaul critical processes on the production line.

Some experts argue Boeing's problems stem from decades of mismanagement

On 1 July, Boeing reached an agreement to take control of Spirit as part of its efforts to resolve quality problems.

There were also changes at the top of the company when Mr Calhoun, who had become chief executive a year after the incidents in Indonesia and Ethiopia, stepped down and was replaced in August by Mr Ortberg, a veteran engineer who had spent decades in the industry.

But weeks after his appointment, Boeing faced further crisis when more than 30,000 unionised workers - most of them in the company's Washington State heartlands - went on strike over a new four-year contract, and how much Boeing would increase pay and other benefits for its workers.

The walkout, which began in September and lasted for seven weeks, held up production of the 737 Max, the 777 and the 767 freighter.
Getty Images Boeing workers picket outside a Boeing facility during a strikeGetty Images
'On strike against Boeing'

In the past, the company had become accustomed to negotiating from a position of strength, only this time it was in a weak position, and according to Bjorn Fehrm, employees were out for revenge.

"It was obvious to them that the old management had basically screwed them. That was the sentiment. They were absolutely disgusted with how they had been treated in the old contract," he explains.

The result was a bitter dispute, at a time when the company was trying to instil a new working culture, and Mr Ortberg had promised to "reset" relations with its employees.

Boeing had to dig deep to come up with a deal that satisfied their demands, which included a 38% pay rise over four years. According to consultants Anderson Economic Group, the strike cost the company more than $5.5 billion.



Airbus versus Boeing: the fallout

All of this came at a time when the aerospace giant was already struggling financially. In the first nine months of 2024 it racked up losses of nearly $8bn (£6.3bn). As a result, it set out plans to cut 17,000 jobs, or a tenth of its workforce.

Boeing's problems have taken a heavy toll on its business. Where once it went toe to toe with its European rival Airbus, it has now delivered fewer aircraft in each of the past five years.

In the first nine months of 2024 it distributed 291 planes to its customers, while Airbus provided 497, according to Forecast International.

For its customers, this has been frustrating. Ryanair, one of the biggest buyers of the 737 Max, has cut its growth forecasts for next year. In the US, Southwest Airlines has had to make job cuts.


Yet Airbus is not in a position to take full advantage of this. Its own order books are full to bursting, with a backlog of nearly 8,700 planes. Like its rival, it has experienced problems with suppliers, leading to delays.

Meanwhile, airlines want new planes. Estimates from both Boeing and Airbus suggest more than 40,000 new aircraft will be needed over the next two decades.

The current generation of aircraft are much more efficient and cheaper to run than their predecessors. So delays in renewing their fleets will cost airlines money – potentially leading to higher ticket prices for their passengers - as well as hampering efforts to improve their environmental performance.

According to Mr Fehrm, all this creates an opening for a third player to take a stake in the market. "Over the next five to 10 years there will be a gap between what the market is asking for and what Airbus and Boeing can deliver by thousands of aircraft.

"So it's open for a third player. Brazilian manufacturer Embraer is a candidate. Or it's going to be a chance for Comac, the Chinese supplier, to come into different markets and say, 'Actually, we can do a decent job here.'"
A 'borderline miraculous' revival?

In early December Mike Whitaker, administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), visited the factory in Renton near Seattle that Mr Mohawk has raised concerns about. At the time, Mr Whitaker said: "What's truly needed is a fundamental cultural shift that's oriented around safety, quality improvement and effective employee engagement and training.

"As expected, Boeing has made progress executing its comprehensive plan in these areas, and we will continue to closely monitor the results as they begin to ramp up production following the strike."

But for many experts, the problems at Boeing go back decades – and are unlikely to be solved overnight.

"The hardest thing to change in large companies is the mindset of people," says Mr Fehrm. "It takes time, and it needs to be manifested in actions, doing things differently.

"There are changes coming, but people won't look at what the top management under Kelly Ortberg say. They will look for actions."


Some observers believe Mr Ortberg has an opportunity now to improve the company's fortunes. Mr Dunlop thinks a change in mindset will be fundamental to Boeing's future.

"The fastest way to turn around a company is to have a complete change in attitude on how you treat your employees, how you treat your customers, and most importantly in how you treat your suppliers."

A complete reversal of its previous approach could produce a "borderline miraculous" revival, he believes.

But others are less confident. Captain Dennis Tajer, the lead spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association (the pilots' union for American Airlines), believes real change at Boeing has to come, not from the boardroom, but from further down the company's ranks.

"The solution is below senior management," he argues.

"It's at the middle management level, where you find the gatekeepers and the people who support doing things properly, not just keeping the schedule going."

The stakes, he insists, could not be higher.

[Patrick AL]

https://www.flyingmag.com/aircraft/repo ... omplaints/


Report Finds FAA Ignores Many Whistleblower Complaints
A Seattle Times investigation found that the agency dismissed 40 percent of safety complaints it received.
Amelia Walsh
Updated Jan 3, 2025 12:41 PM EST

A 777 is joined together at Boeing’s assembly plant in Everett, Washington. [Credit: Boeing/ file photo]

A new Seattle Times report took a deep dive into whistleblower complaints concerning the FAA and Boeing, finding that the agency dismisses the majority of complaints it receives.

Looking at data from 2020-2023, the report found that more than 90 percent of safety complaints ended with no violation found by the FAA.

READ MORE: Boeing Workers Reluctant to Speak Up, FAA Panel Tells Senate

The Seattle Times article highlighted that the “FAA dismisses whistleblower complaints on preliminary review when they lack sufficient information to investigate, repeat an allegation that’s already being investigated, or lack a basis for retaliation claims.” The article also noted that it remains unclear how many of the hundreds of complaints dismissed might have merit.

Of the 728 complaints from 2020-2023, only about 8.5 percent resulted in findings of violations, while nearly 40 percent were dismissed before reaching the fact-finding phase, according to the investigation.

Meanwhile, the FAA has disputed parts of the Seattle Times article, stating that it investigates more complaints than claimed and asserted that its Office of Audit and Evaluation is more independent than the article portrayed.





https://www.flyingmag.com/news/not-a-on ... -scrutiny/


‘Not a One-Year Project’: FAA Vows to Continue Boeing Scrutiny
Sunday marks one year since a door plug blew out on a Boeing 737 Max 9 operating Alaska Airlines Flight 1282.
Jack Daleo
Updated Jan 3, 2025 2:29 PM EST
Boeing door plug Alaska Airlines flight

The door plug on a Boeing 737 Max 9 operating Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was lost during an incident in January 2024. [Courtesy: National Transportation Safety Board]

Nearly one year ago, a Boeing 737 Max 9 operating Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 out of Portland, Oregon, lost a door plug midflight. The event created shock waves across the aviation industry and raised questions about the aerospace titan’s safety culture.

On Friday, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker, who contended with the fallout from the incident just a few weeks into his tenure, said the agency’s work is far from over.

“Our enhanced oversight is here to stay,” Whitaker said in a blog post. “But this is not a one-year project.”

The FAA has been investigating Boeing alongside the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which in February revealed the lost door plug was missing several critical bolts.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy in March testified that the company was stonewalling the investigation, while a Department of Transportation audit described FAA oversight of Boeing’s 737 and 787 production lines as “not effective.”

During an unprecedented two-day hearing in August, NTSB officials grilled Boeing representatives about the firm’s shoddy oversight and its “you mess up, you get moved” mentality against workers who report safety concerns.

“I spoke with our safety experts and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to get all the facts and inputs before making the decision to issue an emergency airworthiness directive grounding all Max aircraft built with this type of plug door,” Whitaker said Friday. “That soon led to a series of unprecedented steps that dramatically transformed how we oversee Boeing.”

The FAA chief said the agency has added inspectors on Boeing factory floors, conducted an “unprecedented number” of audits, capped 737 Max production, and required the manufacturer to create an action plan “to fix its systemic production quality problems.”

After meeting with both leadership and employees about the firm’s safety culture, the FAA in the past year received a “surge” of safety reports.

“And that’s encouraging,” Whitaker said. “An increase in reports—whether at a manufacturer, an airline, or at the FAA—can be one sign of a healthy safety culture.”

Toward the end of the 53-day Boeing machinists’ strike earlier this year, Whitaker said he hammered home the importance of safety to CEO Kelly Ortberg.

“It’s clear that message hit home, as Boeing spent a full month post-strike making sure the necessary safety steps were taken before restarting production,” he said.

Whitaker added that the FAA is keeping a close eye on how Boeing executes its plan to improve safety, quality, and employee training. But it’s not a simple fix.

“What’s needed is a fundamental cultural shift at Boeing that’s oriented around safety and quality above profits,” Whitaker said. “That will require sustained effort and commitment from Boeing, and unwavering scrutiny on our part.”

Off-loading other units could help Boeing streamline its efforts to improve the culture of its core business.

In October, for example, it was reported that Ortberg is weighing the sale of its space business, which developed the beleaguered Starliner spacecraft. A few months prior, reports emerged that Boeing and Lockheed Martin could sell United Launch Alliance, a space launch joint venture they created in 2006.

[Patrick AL]

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gp2ydkywno

Boeing output hit by strikes and safety problems
22 minutes ago
Theo Leggett
Business correspondent, BBC News

The troubled aerospace giant Boeing says it delivered just 348 aircraft to its customers last year, its lowest output since the pandemic.

Boeing ended the year with a backlog of 5,595 unfilled orders.

Stricter scrutiny of the planemaker's practices as well as industrial action, have hampered production at what is one of America's largest manufacturers.

By contrast, its European arch-rival Airbus provided 766 planes.

Boeing's production was hamstrung in 2024, first by serious concerns over quality control, both in its own facilities and at a key supplier.

Later in the year, a strike by workers in its Washington state heartlands paralysed two of its most important factories.

Together these factors helped bring its output down sharply from the 528 aircraft delivered in 2023.

Boeing's year began badly. In January 2024, a panel fitted over an unused emergency exit door fell off a brand new 737 Max shortly after take-off.

The incident left a gaping hole in the side of the plane. Investigators later concluded that the panel had not been bolted into place properly.

The affair put quality control standards at Boeing and its primary supplier Spirit Aerosystems under a harsh spotlight.

An audit by the US regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration, found "multiple instances" where both companies had failed to meet required standards.

Boeing had previously been planning to ramp up production of the 737 Max, its bestselling aircraft. Instead, its output was capped by the FAA.

It also faced intense public criticism over its apparent failure to improve safety standards following two previous accidents involving the 737 Max five years ago.

The manufacturer has since faced increased oversight from the regulator, and is in the process of implementing a major safety and quality control improvement plan.
Boeing and Google each give $1m for Trump inauguration
'It's still in shambles': Can Boeing come back from crisis?

While grappling with the fallout from the January incident, Boeing was also dealing with supply chain problems.

These have been affecting the industry as a whole since the Covid pandemic. Shortages of parts, including engines, slowed output of the 787 Dreamliner and the 777 Freighter.

In September, Boeing suffered another severe blow, when more than 33,000 workers in the US Northwest went on strike.

The dispute, which focused on pay and retirement provisions, was the first major walkout at the company since 2008.

It halted work at Boeing's major factories in the Seattle region, paralysing production of the 737, the 777 and the 767 freighter.

The strike ended in early November, but disruption continued for several more weeks. The 737 Max production line did not restart until mid-December.

Boeing's problems, which have cost the company billions of dollars, have also created headaches for airlines.

Even before the events of the past year, it was struggling to build planes fast enough and the company now has a large backlog of unfulfilled orders.

The 528 aircraft delivered in 2023 fell far short of the pre-Covid era record of 806, set in 2018.

Airbus is in a much healthier position, but still fell narrowly short of production targets last year, as it grappled with its own supply chain issues. Its order backlog now stands at more than 8,600.

With Airbus unable to compensate for Boeing's shortfall, airlines are struggling to obtain the aircraft they want.

In November, Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary described delays in getting hold of new aircraft as "a pain in the backside".

The airline has repeatedly warned that a lack of planes will affect its growth plans, and will limit the number of passengers it can fly this summer.

[Ugly Duckling]

Backlog
A 8600
B 5600
That's quite a gap

[StressMerchant]

Passing of a Boeing legend, a voice from a bygone era that was still respected by his peers.
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/b ... -obituary/

If you have the time, read his papers. They don'y just apply to Boeing; I first encountered them working for a small design company, and they were certainly relevant.