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Comment by tw04 | Hacker News Reader

> Boeing built the 737 MAXX because they couldn’t afford a clean sheet update of 70-year old technology despite the savings.

Boeing ABSOLUTELY could afford a clean sheet replacement of the 737. They chose not to because it would have opened them up to competition and reduced short term profits. Anyone claiming otherwise is blowing smoke.

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I agree with your sentiment, but not the reason - instead of concern about competition/short-term profitability, Boeing has always thrown huge amounts of money into stock buybacks, even while development is running over budget. This article is a great window into the institutional rot at Boeing, and I think it highlights the problems caused by large companies' decisions being dominated by their own stock price: https://newrepublic.com/article/154944/boeing-737-max-invest...

Just wrong. Read about the 7J7. The 787 cost something north of 20 billion to develop. The clean sheet 737 would have cost much more in today’s dollars. Boeing makes an average of less than 5% profit margin from the 1970s to now. It was a relatively obvious financial decision from Boeing’s perspective.

> The 787 cost something north of 20 billion to develop.

So on top of existing R&D, ignoring all of the money they dumped into stock buybacks, roughly 2 years of profits to create a plane design that would last 30 years.

They can absolutely afford that.

Boeing can afford it, but the carriers built around 737 locked themselves in. They don't want a new plane.

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