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Comment by zweep | Hacker News Reader

Is Boeing run by morons? Why didn't they order a ton of these when the shit hit the fan on the MAX? Just trying to make it someone else's problem like they did with the entire plane.

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Sims are owned and operated by airlines (and a few specialized training companies), not by Boeing. The airlines all have a lot of 737 sim capacity, just not 737 MAX specific. That didn't matter until now, because they're all the same type rating. Now that has changed they're all looking for MAX specific sims, which nobody has because they were unnecessary before.

Yeah, Sims are normally owned and operated by airlines, but if I was a manufacturer whose flagship model had suddenly acquired a reputation as a deathtrap I would be spending every dollar I could to fix the problem, regardless of tradition, including buying simulators and even renting them for free out to airlines.

A wild thought from a non-avionics expert:

If I were a producer of 737 flight simulators and heard of the MAX bug: Wouldn't it make sense to try to add an update to the simulator to be able to reproduce this bug in the simulator?

Selling such an update (software, hardware) to existing simulators could make a fortune for the respective simulator manufacturer.

Why sell an update for x when you can sell a full sim for 20x?

Because producing a full sim might take a lot more time and you don't have the production capacity to satisfy the (sudden) huge demand (demand spike?).

Close ... companies are run by yes-men.

Worse than morons. Hubris. Boastful, prideful, contemptible hubris.

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