Seems like the Boeing 737 MAX series of planes can’t catch a break especially after what happened in 2019.
Unless—how often does an airline company ground a particular model?
Unless—how often does an airline company ground a particular model?
Starliner? Delays and cancellations.
KC-46? That POS still isn't reliably refueling, and if I understand correctly USAF is rumored to be looking for a replacement.
F-15EX? It can't use conformal fuel tanks the F-15E has been using for almost 40 bloody years. No, that means it can't achieve its major selling point of carrying 22 missiles either.
737 MAX? Clearly maximum kek given this and that whole comedy about safety exemptions yesterday.
I want to like Boeing, but I feel it's justifiable to tell them to go fuck themselves at this point.
EDIT: I also forgot that V-22 Osprey that crashed into the sea off Japan back in November, killing all on board. As far as I'm aware, that led to a complete grounding of all Ospreys by all US military branches and also the JSDF pending investigation findings.
https://blog.geaerospace.com/technology/second-boeing-777x-m...
The MAX should never have been accepted as being the same airframe as the original 737.
Of course, besides that, Boeing itself is maybe THE major force reducing oversight.
A century of progress in domestic automotive sector would disagree with your opinion, here.
If it wasn't for the gub'ment infringing on the liberties of the little guys (corporations), we'd still be driving cars without airbags, seatbelts, and proper fuel tank safety regulations.
I think it’s to a significant degree the government’s fault that air travel wasn’t safe and people got killed, but it is entirely Boeing’s fault that their products suck and kill people and are losing them money.
Besides, Boeing as the only US aircraft manufacturer is too big to fail, especially with China aircraft increasing in number globally.
Regulators getting cozy with the people they're supposed to regulate happens in every industry, in every country, and... understandably so. Those are people who have the same expertise, same training, who work together all their life.
It may be one of the most difficult problems to solve.
But stupider things have happened.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisagarcia/2019/03/18/did-tru...
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/02/business/stephen-dickson-...
Boeing tried to screw Canada's Bombardier out of the C series aircraft by getting the US Gov to throw on tariffs for an aircraft they had no competitor for. Everything was already done AFAIK that point too; certifications, and everything, the plane was entering into production to fufill US airline orders. It cost $1.3 billion Canadian to develop the plane.
I suspect Boeing thought that'd be the end of it. Airbus had other ideas. They got the whole Bombardier C series aircraft for about $550 million and opened an assembly plant in Alabama in Mobile, about 350 miles from Boeing's assembly plant in Huntsville. Along with the orders from US airlines (I think for 130 aircraft). No more tariffs because these planes are now US made.
As a Canadian it stings a little, but I can't help but cackle at the fact that Boeing execs handed their one major competitor several billion in revenue on a silver platter. And Boeing will need years if not decades to come up with a competitor.
So from Canada: Get fucked sideways Boeing.
And a spectacular own goal for Boeing that they deserved so much :D
Development costs doubled from 2 billion to 4 billion. Then when they went well over 5 billion and the federal government + Quebec had to bail them out to the tune of 1.5+ billion. Even without Boeing, had Airbus not stepped in, it's unlikely the CS100 would have succeeded. European buyers had already started to cancel orders seeing the debacle unfold.
Despite having many orders on the books, banks refused to lend to Bombardier because they expected them to make a loss on the airplane.
So yeah, screw Boeing who played really dirty and Trump helped them (the tariffs were reversed a year later when a more independent body reviewed them). But had Bombardier not been in a massive financial hole this wouldn't have mattered.
I have to read up on the F-15EX, generally so these kinds of upgrades are basically new designs and as such prone to delays and a bunch of technical issues. Especially for military aircraft.
Nothing to add on the MAX that wasn't said already. Boeing sure has its work cut out developing a new version, the existing 737 design is beyond its design life by now.
Well, if a plane crashes for unonown reasons, it is quite normal to ground the fleet, nothing special about Boeig here.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Accountability_Offi...
Not to say that Airbus military plane record is spot less, but the A330 MRTT seems to be a decent plane.
I hate to see Boeing having all these problems, most of which are totally unnecessary.