Keep your seatbelt low and tight in flight, especially when seated next to a plugged door

[Vanadium 50]

LBJ once complained that some mid-level bureaucrat was undermining his policies. "Why don't you fire him?" he was asked. Johnson replied, "Fire him? I can't even find him!"

 

[Flyboy]

Yep. It’s going to take one of the most thorough house cleanings in corporate history to truly fix Boeing’s woes. The comparison I would be inclined to use would be “chemotherapy”.

 

[gmax137]

LBJ once complained that some mid-level bureaucrat was undermining his policies. "Why don't you fire him?" he was asked. Johnson replied, "Fire him? I can't even find him!"

Love LBJ stories.

LBJ was getting ready to leave and there were 2 or 3 helicopters spooling up. He was walking towards one when the young Marine stopped him, saying, "you're helicopter is this one over here, sir." LBJ said, "son, they're *all* my helicopters."

 

[Vanadium 50]

Who doesn't like an LBJ story?

It will be interesting to see what, if anything, changes.

 

[DaveE]

The problem with a "reformer" CEO is that the people underneath him who need reforming will want to see him fail, and will do what they can to make that happen. It's the rare one who actually can successfully clean house.

Yes. He's set up to fail, experienced CEO types won't take that job. He needs to clean house, be hated, and fired, to set up the next CEO for rebuilding. OTOH, by our standards, his bank account will do OK, I'm sure. I'm sure he knows this as well as we do.

 

[Point Conception]

So it seems only the crash victims families are demanding accountability.https://finance.yahoo.com/news/boeing-737-max-crash-families-204917560.html

 

[Vanadium 50]

He's got to fire a lot of people, and he can't do it all at once. So his challenge is to figure out who needs to go now, and who can go later. Some people would best serve Boeing by having their heads on pikes. Figuring out who is why he gets the big bucks.

 

[Flyboy]

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/08/08/business/boeing-seattle-new-ceo

Well hot damn. We got someone who understands in the big seat.

Maybe there’s hope for the company yet.

 

[DaveE]

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/08/08/business/boeing-seattle-new-ceo

Well hot damn. We got someone who understands in the big seat.

Maybe there’s hope for the company yet.

I think it just means that he understands public and investor relations. This, by it's self only shows that he knows how to look like he's fixing things. Who else is moving? His staff? Doesn't a Boeing VP fly to many locations each year? Don't they have his cell phone number and email? CEO's walking the floor doesn't mean anything unless your name is Hewlett or Packard and you've previously built an organization that reflects those values.

He's buying time with PR stunts while he, hopefully, fixes real problems that will take a lot longer. It's a sound bite press release IMO, that is all.

 

[Borg]

Ortberg said he’d be on the factory floor in Renton, Washington, Thursday, where the company makes its troubled 737 Max line of planes.

If he's willing to listen, the factory floor is the first place he needs to be. You can't hear from the workers from 2300 miles away.

 

[Flyboy]

I think it just means that he understands public and investor relations. This, by it's self only shows that he knows how to look like he's fixing things. Who else is moving? His staff? Doesn't a Boeing VP fly to many locations each year? Don't they have his cell phone number and email? CEO's walking the floor doesn't mean anything unless your name is Hewlett or Packard and you've previously built an organization that reflects those values.

He's buying time with PR stunts while he, hopefully, fixes real problems that will take a lot longer. It's a sound bite press release IMO, that is all.

It’s still an improvement over the last few CEOs. And if it is just a PR stunt to buy time to fix the real issues, that’s fine by me.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Worst case - it's a PR move. That still shows he understands the problem, which is the first step in fixing it.

The next step is to require all the VPs and such who now fly to Seattle do so on a recent Boeing aircraft. That will focus their attention on safety in a hurry.

 

[berkeman]

The next step is to require all the VPs and such who now fly to Seattle do so on a recent Boeing aircraft.

And sit by the plugged doors...

 

[Vanadium 50]

And sit by the plugged doors..

If it's Boeing, I am going, going, gone!

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

https://theaircurrent.com/aircraft-...ter-failure-of-key-engine-mounting-structure/

 

[Astronuc]

https://theaircurrent.com/aircraft-...ter-failure-of-key-engine-mounting-structure/

Reuters reports FAA to inspect Boeing 787 planes after mid-air dive, as 777X tests put on hold after structural damage found
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-faa-adopts-safety-directive-204442367.html

Separately, Boeing said Monday it had halted test flights on its 777-9 that is awaiting certification after a component between the engine and airplane structure was identified as failing to perform during a maintenance check.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/boeings-latest-mishap-cracks-777x-125134825.html

https://www.reuters.com/business/ae...787-planes-following-mid-air-dive-2024-08-19/


Motley Fool: Prediction: Boeing Might Sell Its Defense Business
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/prediction-boeing-might-sell-defense-105000069.html

Things are so bad at Boeing Defense, Space, and Security (BDS) that aerospace analyst Chris Quilty of Quilty Space quipped, "I wouldn't be entirely surprised if they spun out or sold the Defense & Space business as a way to mitigate their sprawling problems."

 

[Flyboy]

I think it’s a mixed bag if they split their defense and commercial sides. On the one hand, the defense side is doing reasonably well, with multiple contracts currently being worked to varying degrees of success (glares at KC-46 Pegasus). On the other hand, it’s probably their most successful production division at the moment.

 

[Point Conception]

If Boeing is no longer connected to the military industrial complex maybe the Justice department will be more inclined to hold Boeing accountable in the various criminal/civil cases.

 

[Astronuc]

Boeing and Lockheed Martin are in discussions to sell their joint venture, United Launch Alliance (ULA), to Sierra Space, according to sources familiar with the matter. ULA, a key provider of launch services to the U.S. government and a major competitor to SpaceX, could soon shift from being owned by two of the largest defense contractors to a smaller, privately held company.

https://themachinemaker.com/news/bo...-sell-united-launch-alliance-to-sierra-space/

I read about this in a Reuters article.
https://www.reuters.com/business/ae...artin-talks-sell-ula-sierra-space-2024-08-16/

 

[berkeman]

Interesting CNN article today with the perspective of one of the pilots flying the plane when the door plug blew:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/12/business/alaska-airlines-pilot-i-was-in-shock/index.html

“I opened the flight deck door. And I saw quiet. Hundreds of eyes staring right back at me. And I looked at my flight attendants and I said, ‘Are you okay?’ And in that response, I heard: ‘hole,’ ‘four, five empty seats’ and ‘injuries.’”

Wiprud said she thought people were blown out of the plane. But the flight crew was quickly able to determine that all passengers and crew were accounted for.

<<snip>>

She said the noise from the air whooshing through the plane was “so incredibly loud,” and, after she put on her oxygen mask, Wiprud said she couldn’t hear anything on her headset. The reason: Her headset was no longer on her head. It had gotten ripped off as the cabin was depressurized.