Is Airbus HELPING Boeing?! 

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Boeing’s CEO is an accountant. Airbus’s CEO is an engineer who came up though the company in R&D.

When Airbus started, it did not own any of its production facilities. Aérospatiale, BAe Aerospace, as well as some companies in Spain and Germany (forget their names) provided production facilities and there were huge fights/delays on who would build what. Airbus then went through a transformation where it became a corporation owned by those companies, and who bought those facilities from those companies at which point it could better coordinate who would do what. Eventually BAe pulled out and sold its shares in Airbus, but Airbus was already stuck with the Boughton plant and decided to keep it even though it was no longer necessary (in past, because Airbus was government created, it needed to create jobs in every country whose governments helped create Airbus). In essence, Airbus went in the opposite direction of Boeing to consolidate its production into its own facilities for the most part.

I really appreciate your videos. On one side, you really know your stuff, and even as a captain, that isn't automatically true. Like this video... Many pilots get up and go to work every workday not knowing what beyond the next leg, but these in-depth analysis really require more. Also, from the technical aspect, you really have good knowledge, which to some level is required as cockpit-crew, but the level of detail you provide surpass that. Some accidents, like the one with Alaska Airlines off the coast of LA (MD-80), is an accident that I really had explained in great detail what possible was wrong by a relative that has been very techincal with aircrafts all his life, and you match that level of detail. So your videos are in a class of their own.

I don't think either Airbus nor Boeing are "serious" about acquiring parts of (or the entirety of) Spirit because they both realize what a nightmare it can be to integrate a company into their fold. I think they are using this as a bargaining chip to send an indirect message to Spirit that they can "buy" them any time they deem fit, but the reality of the matter is the crude Adage applies "why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free". In other words they can still outsource a lot of the work to Spirit and not deal with any extra cost or hassle of acquisition and integration.

Attn: Mentour Pilot: From Canada? Yes... A bit on the "windy" side Wichita KS is in the middle of the infamous U.S./ Tornado alley! Having survived one ornado in my time, might not the Boeing thought of buying back Sprit Wichata get "All blown up: in yet another way?

Airbus must see that Boing survives on a decent scale...otherwise they might run into the problem of monopolism and that can spark calls for splitting up Airbus in the end...

Airbus and Boeing are a duopoly - I expect they would rather help each other, rather than risk one company failing and a new company starting up! It's like Coke and Pepsi.

Short of a major about-face at Boeing, the last 2 decades of mismanagement, cost cutting, and “self certification” may have doomed them. Yes, Boeing has a huge backlog that will keep it going for quite a while, but that may not save them - especially if the marketplace loses confidence in Boeing. The window of opportunity for Boeing to recover its reputation is narrow, and the damage to their reputation is very large.

One thing you have to remember about modern upper corporate management is that they don't care about the effects 10 years from now because they won't be there anymore. So if it can maximize to their advantage now in the shorter term, something that might kill them 10 years from now is not of consequence. That will be someone else's problem

As an aerospace engineer who holds Boeing in the highest esteem, it breaks my heart to say this, but American companies are no longer into engineering. They are into money games, stock prices, quarterly profits, management fad du jour, and they have nowhere to go but down. The country that produced the most brilliant engineers and scientists who could put a man on the Moon half-a-century ago because of its critical thinking ability, is now in the optimism business. Sad state of affairs.

I'm living in Toulouse and have a lot of friends working on Airbus assembly line. They actually complain a lot with parts build by Spirit Aerosystems, saying that provider is probably their worst in terms of quality and number of rejected parts. Airbus is under pressure with that kind of suppliers as that leads to a lot of time loss. So I think that if Airbus wants to buy some of the factories from Spirit is also to gain control on quality and improve it.

I also work for a large American company that behave in a similar fatuous manner to Boeing. They talk a good talk, drive down costs, care little about quality or personnel. Their only focus is their dwindling profits and appear not to understand that a happy workforce and happy customers make for a strong profit margin. Putting the cart before the horse.

For the 10000000000th time (other people have said this) this is what happens when you let accountants and business majors into management.

I'm experiencing a similar disaster with my employer, who happens to be the US federal government or at least my part of it. The system has been infected with box checkers for a very long time, and it's finally reached a critical mass. Add to that policies box checkers have implemented have gutted our core competencies to the point where we can't do engineering anymore just pushing paperwork to have contractors do the engineering. So when something that requires critical thinking comes along, we struggle hard. Boeing is in the same position. And the solution is the same. You literally have to fire a lot of the bureaucracy en masse and identity the people who know how to get things done no matter what and get them into leadership positions.

I worked for Airbus and Bombardier, A380, A400M, A340-600, A350, BD100, all HLS and CC. And safety was never a topic any compromise was made. Not even hair thin. Our counterparts were technicians of the highest grade such as Willi Elmers and no matter what it was technology, process stability, safety, maintainability, performance... that was nothing to reduce or degregate. We found solutions to be cost effective by finding new production methods, better logistics and interchangeable parts. Not by using a simplex design for critical Class 2 or Class 1 parts/units/systems to save the buck. I once was into offering a PCU for 747-800 and noticed the tendencies. No BAFO for us back then. What a luck. Boeing was the most respected company in aerospace on level with NASA, BAE, NACA. The ruinners are rich now, noone seems to have a possibility to make them accountable for their devestating doing. And I fear that nothing will change because we don't want to change. Because we pay respect for wealth and not for what a man achieves. Productive people are called loosers, and it is the managers and bean counters, the betrayers and frauders everyone looks up to.

In 40 years of being a consumer, employee, contractor, and now a business owner and employer, I cannot recall a single example where outsourcing a key production process resulted in a company's long term strength and success, but so many examples where such decisions led to a company's demise. No matter how it is arranged, it's simply not possible to effectively control and oversee an outsourced layer, and that layer will require its own profit margin with its own incentives and temptations to maximize those profits, an ultimate conflict of interests. There are too many boardrooms occupied by too many stuffed suits who are too easily tempted by deceptive promises and overoptimistic numbers, blind to their impact on the long term strength and integrity of the company. A decade from now, nobody will remember Spirit Aerosystems, but everyone will recognize Boeing whether or not they are still in business. Why, WHY relinquish control of critical aspects of your production to a company no one knows, no one will remember, and that has relatively little to lose??? As a small time and relatively new small business owner, even I can clearly see the foolishness of this thinking. My other observation... Although Airbus hasn't exactly extended a hand to Boeing, Petter's point reminds me that competitors rely on each other in many ways and they should not automatically be adversaries. It is in the best interest of both Boeing and Airbus that the other survive and remain strong. If either fail, the void will be filled by the likes of Comac, UAC, or some other company from a place that doesn't play nice on the global stage. That won't be good for anyone, especially the survivor of the Airbus/Boeing rivalry. If you are a firmly entrenched supporter of Airbus or Boeing hoping the other will fail, you should carefully consider how they actually need each other and maybe reframe your perspective before your wish comes true.

Question would be, do they even deserve being helped at this point, we should await the investigation, but the whistleblower did die under very suspicious circumstances for putting it mildly.

Boeing can't fix their quality problem by buying Spirit. Boeing needs new management that understands quality.

1:45 also around that time MDD management decided that their core *purpose* was to provide revenue for shareholders. That is also why they moved the HQ to Chicago: they wanted to be closer to finance, and not bothered by the complains of manufacturing. These are things they literally stated at the time. And I would not be as optimistic as Peter on management getting its sh*t straight: in 2022 they moved HQ even further away from manufacturing to Virginia, in order to get closer to the fed and pentagon. And a proposal by a shareholder to move the HQ back to Seattle early this year was rejected by the board without being brought to ballot as interference with management prerogative.

I just want to say that this channel, and Mentour Pilot, are, BY FAR, the most interesting channels I have ever seen on RU-vid in a very long time. The way that everything is explained is very well structured and incredibly interesting and thoughtful. I have found myself seeing these videos every night after work, intrigued about the Boeing/Airbus situation, aviation news, and incidents/accidents. If I ever had some interest in the aviation industry, your channels have raised it a 1000%. Thank you very much for your work on these channels.

I see the Boeing parts of Spirit being sold back to Boeing, the A220 wing plant acquired by Airbus, and the rest remaining with a smaller Spirit.

Every time I've seen a company contract work out that they don't want to do, or add middlemen in their process it always starts out cheaper than doing it themselves directly, but over time it ends up being more expensive. Always. You cannot have more people involved and expect them to not want to get paid more.

In spite of 2 crashes Boeing CEO still took home millions in bonuses

I must say that the A220 is an excellent aircraft from a passenger perspective. I found it much more comfortable to fly in than both A320 and 737.

Why airbus doesn't have the same quality issues with Spirit as Boeing? Hmmm, I have a crazy theory, but hear me out: The problem may not be Spirit, but Boeing. Wild, I know.

But Boeing reaquiring Spirit Aerospace doesn't address the root cause of the safety/quality failures. The *CULTURE* at Boeing is driven by accountants and they just want to push as much product (revenue) out the door as possible. If you talk quality control to an accountant, it's like discussing Greek philosophy with your dog. To an accountant or MBA, quality is just an expense that they don't understand and looks bad on the cost spreadsheet.

When will management realize that optimizing or restructuring for some KPI is very dangerous? A KPI just gives one view of reality and you need a lot of other knowledge to adequately understand what is going on. But that you know requires a bit of technical knowledge and actually understand the process in detail not just an extreme birds view from a boardroam where they discuss KPI and its influence on their massive bonuses?

From the Senate inquiry and subsequent DOJ investigation, it seems like it's a Boeing culture of short-term profit over quality issue than anything else. The talk about acquiring Spirit Aerosystems by Boeing is just a distraction and subterfuge by Boeing management. If they intend to improve quality then they should rehire quality control inspectors that they got rid of and revitalize the quality control and engineering-driven culture at Boeing. That's what made the company great and an industry leader in the first place in its heydays.

CEO never cares. His Off Shore bank account still gets auto deposit of millions

One of the things I have noticed watching both Boeing, but also game companies like Wizards of the Coast and Unity , and HP's position on customers and their ink subscriptions, etc., is that one of the key elements of a company's well being does not seem to be at all considered by management. There is a fundamental deficiency in the formation of these management types. I think that customer/community good will is a key component of sustained viability. Trying to squeeze the last dime out of customers and similar strategies cannot be undertaken without considering the effect on goodwill. Your company's production and costs may not have changed a thing, but if you lose the goodwill of those who spend their money on you, you may become non-competitive overnight.

This is what Anglo-American style of investment does. It places all the focus on regular growth but ends up destroying long term value. They take a reputation that an old company has spent decades building and then effectively exploit the reputation but neglect the very thing that got it there. By the time it goes pop all the management that caused it have long gone to repeat the same thing at the next company.

The chopping up and outsourcing of design occurred under CEO James McNerney, a GE Jack Welch protege who had done the same chop and outsource routine at 3M before he came to Boeing. Outsourcing design of consumer products is a lot different than airplanes. Investors loved his actions at both companies, employees objected at both companies. (Listen to your employees who know the products better than you do!) Airbus should absolutely bring the A220 production back under its wing, no pun intended. They have a complex structure as well but closer organization of their supply chain and this has absolutely been an advantage for them. 4:20 The dirty secret of aviation accounting is that "free cash flow" is based on projections of airplanes not made yet. This is why they can endlessly tout FCA as if it actually means something, and explains some of the pressure on production to avoid delays that would expose the company's forecast inadequacies and scare investors. Airbus uses a stricter accounting standard so they aren't as exposed to this self-imposed risk.

I worked for an areospace supplier that made parts for Boeing, Airbus, Lockheed, and Bombardier. Each supplier had its own quality management, which included instructions what to do with a missing part or which tools were permitted to be used, foundries you could order metal from and so on. So Airbus just managed this better. Hearing about the use of improvised tools or testing liquids is something Boeing should have caught. Even if they buy them how will they catch these items.

RIP John Barnett...this is on you Boeing.

Just for info, the Broughton facility in North Wales wasn’t Hawker Siddeley during WW2. The airfield was developed during WW2 as a shadow factory, all effort was made to keep its existence unknown. It was owned by Vickers Armstrong. In the late 1940s De Havilland took the site over. Hawker Siddeley followed, and then British Aerospace, BAe Systems, and finally Airbus. The runway and airfield are known as Hawarden Airfield, CEG being its code. As for Airbus helping Boeing, it’s of course widely known that the order book for Airbus is quite a few years solidly booked out, unless more capacity can be developed in the near term of course. It strikes me that Airbus almost NEEDS a fairly strong Boeing…it would actually not benefit if things got worse for Boeing. Certainly from Airbus there’s a big respect for Boeing and all that it’s achieved. There are emerging competitors of course….. Embraer are doing a fabulous job, with their range of commercial a/c. It remains to be seen what inroads China, Japan, and Russia can make in the decades to come, to name but three. Another aspect to keep in mind regarding Boeing success helping Airbus is, Airbus’ supply chain is often shared with Boeing. Those suppliers depend on order books from both the giants. If Boeing really struggled, it would make things less sustainable for the suppliers to Airbus which make structures and components large and small for both companies. Thanks as always for your amazing presentations. ❤

Airbus probably doesn't even want Boeing to be their supplier as a contractor for their planes 😅

Doing stock buy-backs were also a strong signal, that they care more about money than technology.

It’s crazy to me that despite being spread across several countries, Airbus is: run more efficiently, has a stronger work culture, and produces better airplanes.

Calhoun has a point that re-acquiring Spirit might not solve the problems there. Boeing management has pathologies almost identical to Spirit’s.

As an European, I get a lot of satisfaction out of the success of Airbus. However, the prospect of any further diminishing of Boeing fills me with alarm. Already the more or less duopoly in the industry is not very good for the travelling public. Witness the increasing backlog of unfulfilled orders at both Airbus and Boeing. An effective monopoly would be even worse and would inevitably lead to arrogance and complacency at Airbus. So I do hope that Boeing bounces back from this bad patch.

Just an acknowledgment of the brilliant editing & production on this video, Mentour! I don’t know if you have an editor but someone is very talented.

I’ve been working for Boeing since 1985 mostly on chinooks and ospreys and I’ve seen them trying to ruin their business several times. They had a world class wire harness factory that I spent several years working in. In the same building they assembled various pieces of equipment for the aircraft such as power distribution and avionics equipment. At that time any repairs and improvements such as wire lengths as well as parts for damaged components were immediately available. They also used the wire shop as an entry level position and a well of talent they could tap into. In 1995 they off-loaded the work all the equipment and parts, they couldn’t see that they were going to lose control of a large part of their production. We the workers told them that they were now at the mercy of whoever they had given the work to. The accountants were so happy and the products have been going downhill from there.

Will you be covering the story of the sudden death of a Boeing whistle blower? I’m generally not the conspiratorial type but the timing and circumstances of his death seem incredibly suspicious.

Maybe Airbus can teach Boeing not to kill its employees? That'd be a start.

The big Airbus secret is it must own and control all A220 production. Acquiring Spirit's Airbus production is the immediate objective, even if that will help Boeing, Boeing's one-dimensional, cost-driven management ensures Boeing lags in most competitive areas. Historically, Boeing has won with engineering concepts, but lost when it began fighting with labor and production management.

You can find how Airbus USA treats the workers on the assembly lines. They get a good salary, other than Spirit. They send them on a 6 month training to Germany and more. What is Boeing doing ? They will do more inspections, but they have laid them off so they are gone. Words, words, words.

Boeing brought this on themselves by putting profit before anything else. Their lobbying efforts gave them the ability to circumvent quality control, and even certification requirements. They are in the top 10 of lobbyists in Washington, having spent over 300 million on lobbying since the late 90s. One senator even took 200k to lobby the faa for Boeing. Just gotta follow the money.

Boeing has helped the Europeans so much (Concorde, ETOPS, Taxation, WTO disputes, A220 lawsuit etc) that I am sure that Airbus and EADS just can't wait to extend the same courtesy back. Well, I can now see the possibility of an old Airbus target again... Air Force One will eventually be an Airbus. If I was Airbus, I would take on Spirit and leave Boeing just with Mitsubishi (yet, this would probably not be approved by the US antitrust that would come rushing in to defend their little darling). By the way, this is just a joke... If you find me dead it wasn't a suicide either!

14:17 LMAO oops, I meant Lima Mike Alpha Oscar

I wonder how many fans of Petter’s RU-vid channels have flown with Petter as a pilot and had no idea.

Just fyi David Calhoun announced his resignation from Boeing today and will be leaving by the end of the year. He has already given his replacement full powers. She is a ~ 30-year employee and 5th generation Boeing worker. In other words, she is from the days of the engineering mindset days. Maybe some things will change now? Btw, this is from the BNN (Boeing News Network) site. Not Fox News...

A very interesting and thoughtfully presented view into the complexities of modern aircraft production and the difficulties that Boeing and, to a lesser extent, airbus are facing. I very much appreciated your honesty in saying, "I don't know," where things were genuinly unclear instead of trying to gloss over them with unsubstantiated opinion as some presenters are sometimes prone to do. It is these areas of uncertainty that can be the most interesting and entertaining, and possibly the most important, parts of the story. I learned a lot from this episode and look forward to more analysis like it.

Maybe Boeing not paying spirit well and making them cut corners to keep cost low?

Honestly all top management should be engineers period. These days engineers runs all successful companies in America.

Ditto across other industries, I.e. private equity taking over medical professionals

I gave you a like for the disappointed look when I didn't press like immediately. Made me laugh aloud

I mentioned your YT channel our on local news network yesterday. Well, I used you for citation.

Working for an American owned company in the British Isles, making parts for both Boeing and Airbus, I can say that the Shareholders are the top priority. This year has been especially bad as we approach the end of the financial year. The drive to hold minimal inventory has been one of the key metrics over the last few years but then add to that not paying suppliers to make sure you are cash rich is short term gain. Moving into April we are going to be struggling for months to get back to normal on the production front. Trust in a company is hard won but easily lost. I like my job but I am unsure if I can keep working for this company if things get even worse. I will say that quality is not an issue with us it is just the companies practices with suppliers etc that I am against.

Accounting logic and engineering logic are often at odds. A simple example: Accounting logic: buy an incandescent bulb to reduce costs. Engineering logic: Calculate the ROI and consider choosing a more expensive upfront, lower long term solution. The difference is time horizon. Accounting mentality is usually based on spreadsheets and quarterly or yearly gain, not a deep understanding of the actual product and full product lifecycle. I see it over and over in technology companies that hire not technical leadership. They burn out the company fast…

Please don't ever stop making in-depth LONG-form content! This is EXACTLY the kind of stuff that I love watching

If anyone remembers Kelly Johnson, he organized a small team of best engineers to build the most epic planes of the 20th century. Who doesn’t remember the SR71? In 1950 they didn’t even use a computer to develop it…

The only way Airbus could help Boeing is by purchasing it and making it "Airbus USA/North America".

Boeing won't get better as long as bean counters are in charge, working for quarterly results. They need to return to becoming an engineering company with a focus on design and safety.

The best thing would be for both Airbus and Boeing to be strong. It’s good for competition and innovation.

Any aerospace company that has HR, Accountants and non-aviation idiots running their companies will never understand safety or quality. There are a few other aerospace companies (look at UK……..) with similar worrying focus on their shareholders profits and personal bonuses rather than their customers and flight safety.

Dave Calhoun is the best CEO Airbus ever had

I actually wish that Airbus helps Boeing out. If all the customers start ordering Airbus then Airbus would struggle to keep up with the demand and could potentially compromise on quality in order to meet the production targets.

Boeing merging with McDonnell Douglass is one thing, but taking over McDonnell's management was a huge mistake and in my humble opinion is the main reason why Boeing is so messed up. I mean there's a reason why McDonnell Douglass was in such bad shape by the time Boeing took over. I said this back then when it happened and considering all that's happened since then, I still believe that

Now retired, but spent many years at Airbus working on supply chain relationships, we (they) have a VERY different approach to managing key suppliers. It takes more time and effort, but it pays off in the end, especially when things go wrong. PS the US suppliers were always among the most difficult to deal with. great channel, keep it up. PPS The A220 was always going to take 10 years to sort out, particularly the industries relationships.

If Boeing buy Spirit then Lockheed and Northrup-Grumman will not be happy that a competitor will be in charge of making parts for their aircraft anymore than Airbus will. This could become a very messy affair indeed.

To believe this premise, one must believe Spirit is at the heart of Boeing's quality issues. I am left with the fear that Boeing re-acquiring Spirit simply makes it easier for Boeing to hide its quality shortcuts...

2:15 As a system manager one thing I learned is that management rules the benchmarks and indicators as tools to the objects management has set, never let the benchmarks and indicators rule You, they are not Your real objectives.

mcdonnell douglas merger was what ruined boeing. not even airbus can save boeing at this point. despite the lack of competition, airbus is still trying to figure out how to innovate while boeing cared about nothing but more profits.

Petter, excellent video, as always. Being a 737 pilot yourself, I’d like to know how your 737 pilots community and yourself feel about all this turmoil around Boeing and, in particular, the 737. Does it have an impact on your work, or how you were forecasting your career/next steps?

And now we learn that Boeing's CEO has stepped down.....

“You get what you pay for”, replace veterans that brought up the company for an outsourced outside company that doesn’t take the same care you did in quality and doesn’t follow your culture and standards. You end up paying the price at the end. How do I know. Working in the IT industry for over 20 years I’ve seen too many companies dump employees they deemed too high cost for cheaper employees and have since been dealing with their actions. I’ve been there were you sign in one day and management just walks in calls your entire department over to another room and says turn in your badges you no longer work for the company. In one company I was part of a team of 500 people that they walked each and every one of us out the door including our higher management and directors. Replaced by outsourced outside company’s for much less money. What happened to said company they went from being known world wide to barely being known today. And last I heard they are still shedding employees. Unfortunately it’s what happens when you pay less expecting higher gains. You loss the soul of the company and eventually it will die unless you go back to your roots. Sorry for the long comment. But I’m of the mindset that outsourcing needs to stop. It’s the one thing that ends companies. Or if you do outsource get a company that only follows your rule. So you still keep control. Instead of handing the keys to another company hoping they have a good track record. You get what you pay for. Pay less, you’ll get much less. Pay more and you get veterans who will keep the soul of the company alive. But no companies just want to be cheap. So it’s self inflicted. I don’t have sympathy. But at the end I hope that Boeing returns to their roots.

Boeing glitch when replaced his ingeneers by WS finance guys on the company's top decision makers. Financial guys do not know about how to made planes: his eyes only see the stock prices. Remember: nearly 10 years ago, Boeing begins to "self buying" his own stoks at WS, growing artificially its market price and (this was the goal) growing the management's guys annual bonnuses (attached to the stock prices). As an engineer can't do a good job in WS, a financial guy can't do a good job in Boeing. Greetings from Argentina ! 🇦🇷

The MDD merger killed Boeing

@MentourPilot Petter, Here's one for you, organize a "FanFlight" once a week/month for your followers. A one hour flight from your favorite airport and back. with cameras in the cockpit where you briefly explain tasks you carry out during the whole thing. Maybe $500 a seat makes it worthwhile for you and your fans. And maybe add a one hour after flight chat (could also be in-flight), with a drink and some hors d'oeuvres perhaps, for an extra $100. (Expand this franchise, don't just sit on it)

Put an engineer back in the helm.

There should be an option on your ticket to opt out of flying on any Boeing deathliners

The effects of bean counters...

IMO a lot of Boeings issue is because of poor FAA oversight.

if it’s boeing i’m not going

Airbus should buy Spirit, in order to improve its quality. Then they can sell the parts to Boeing-- that would help Boeing because Boeing is Boeing's worst enemy right now.

I love how personal greed, incompetence and failure constantly gets rewarded in this story. That echoes the broader situation across the US corporate landscape since C-suite interests alignment with shareholder profits became sacrosanct in the 90s... EVERYBODY loses so a select few can make off with the bank. Lessons of Game Theory turned on their head. I guess we just HAVE to go down this road every 100 years, have it blow up in our faces, wage a huge war, course correct, thrive and finally creep back to "trickle down"...

I love the news weighing in on the 737, saying "why is this plane flying?" Ignoring the fact that the 737 is an OLD aircraft, with a distinguished record. It's only recently that there have been issues. Timing is everything. The 737 is not a bad design nor is it a bad aircraft. Quality control is a completely separate issue. But we can't expect anything better from the mainstream media. Mainstream media is garbage anymore.

To be honest at this stage with the on going issue with the Pratt & Whitney engines I wouldn't be surprised if Airbus does decide to just foot the bill and just re-winging the A220 and then offering the CFM LEAP-1A as an engine option with the Airbus UK division making the said wing. I'm almost positively sure that Airbus if required would be able to bring a lot of the outsourced parts from Spirit AeroSystems back in house as they have both the know how, factory's and most importantly the capital to do so.

Boeing as company is in Big Trouble. I am honestly afraid to fly on thier Aircrafts. Their Engineering and Manufaturing need to step up if Boeing is to Survive this LOW. It is a shame that all of thise is caused by GREEDY Accountants and Share-Holders that only care about money and NO SAFETY for the people.

But was it not Boeing that repaired the door and cut corners so it would have to be documented and inspected and even photographed the missing bolts or was it spirit contractors ? It gets so confusing

While watching this, we crossed paths with the Airbus Beluga over Belgium while flying in a SAS Airbus A320 Neo. It was a magnificent sight, and maybe even transporting some wings from Spirit. How apropos.

This is what happens when the government makes you “too big to fail”

As the BA systems architect for the IT in the T5 baggage system at LHR back in the early 2000s, I couldn’t agree more with some of the comments on here re the “accountants in charge instead of the engineers.” The IT at BA was resilient, well engineered and went through proper process procedures and testing to ensure all glitches were ironed out. Move forward six years and management structure was changed which resulted in various cutbacks, hence the issues on the opening day of T5 in 2008. Despite many conversations, management wouldn’t listen to us technical people and insisted that their cost structure changes WILL be implemented. Hence the failure of the BHS on day one. Since then it’s got worse as the IT department has been outsourced and all the issues you’ve probably heard or read about in/on the media is all down to using people who know almost nothing about airline IT systems when they arrive in the U.K. and after one year they fly back home and you have to teach new incumbents the basics. The only glimmer of light on the horizon is that the new BA CEO is Shaun Doyle who finally is someone who comes from a technical background and understands systems. Bean counters, no thanks.

Almost 30 years out and still blaming MDD for the current inept management of Boeing.

Boeing used to be a easily manageable compant with Management, Engineers and Manufacturing industry in one place. this makes for quick 1st hand decision easily made. McD. be came togather. giving Management decisions to McD managers they sold off, and broke up the company. 😮 fyi the Engineers are now in India, Management in Washington DC. only to be near the government.😮 yes Boeing needs to buy bake Spirit

Wasn’t expecting Prestwick to be mentioned, you’ve made this Scot happy haha

Money... Money... Money that is the game. Awful isnt? And the blow out is the real cause. What about the other 737 Max disasters? Separate issues but is it poor leadership governance and accountability?

Petter, never stop doing what your doing

Get the know-nothing money manager (and his acolytes) out of Boeing. Seriously, who the hell holds any of these money changers in any esteem? Calhoun is a glorified wealth manager who operates in the made-up hyper-reality of finance, not the actual reality of physics, engineering and technology. He’s not even remotely qualified (not even from a business administration standpoint) to run Boeing. It’s absurd that he still has his job, or that he was ever selected by the board for top spot at Boeing.