Regulators are worried that faucet leaks in Boeing 787 jets could pose a safety hazard by water seeping into the planes' electronics during flights.
The Federal Aviation Administration proposed Friday to order repetitive inspections and, if leaks are found, replacing faucet parts. The move comes after reports of water from lavatories getting under the cabin floor and into electronic equipment bays.
The FAA said the leaks could damage critical equipment and lead to a "loss of continued safe flight and landing."
The agency said one airline found wet carpet in the cockpit of a plane and, when it inspected its entire fleet of 787s, found "multiple" planes with leaking faucets. The FAA did not identify the airline.
Boeing advised airlines in November about the issue, which has been traced to an O-ring seal and described as a slow leak — about 8 ounces of water per hour. However, Boeing said the issue was limited to certain 787s while the FAA order would cover all of them.
More Boeing Bad News
Re: More Boeing Bad News
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/boeing-787 ... ts-safety/
Re: More Boeing Bad News
Airbus widens its lead over Boeing in China with plans for second finishing line
https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/06/business ... index.html
New York
CNN
—
Airbus announced plans Thursday for a second final-assembly line in China, the latest sign that it has a lock on the key aviation market over rival Boeing.
The announcement came as part of a state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to China. The signing of the agreement by Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury was witnessed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and by Macron.
It will add another line to the final-assembly facility that Airbus opened in Tianjin, China, in 2008, which has put the final touches on 600 A320 aircraft to date.
Airbus (EADSF) operates four assembly sites around the world but it forecasts that China’s air traffic in particular will grow 5.3% annually over the next 20 years, significantly faster than the world average of 3.6%.
This will lead to a demand for 8,420 passenger and freighter aircraft between now and 2041, representing more than 20% of the world’s total demand for new aircraft, Airbus predicts.
Boeing (BA) has similar forecasts for China’s aircraft demand.
Soured trade relations
But worsening trade relations between the United States and China have basically locked Boeing out of that key market for aircraft. Thursday’s deal includes the sale of another 160 Airbus aircraft to China, where more than 2,100 are in service already.
Boeing has not reported an order for a commercial passenger plane from a Chinese airline since 2017, only for orders from Chinese aircraft leasing companies that could be buying them on behalf of buyers outside of China, or for freighter aircraft, a segment of the market that Boeing dominates.
And deliveries to Chinese customers by Boeing have plunged. So far this year it has delivered only one 777 freighter to China Air Cargo, and there were only 12 jets delivered in 2022: eight freighters and four to a leasing company.
In 2017, the year the Trump administration first levied tariffs on US imports of Chinese goods, sparking a tit-for-tat trade tiff, Boeing delivered 161 jets to China, and slightly more in the following year. But with the 737 Max grounding and the pandemic causing a sharp fall off in demand for air travel, Boeing deliveries to China plunged to 45 in 2019, and to 27 in the three-plus years since then.
Boeing’s best selling plane, the 737 Max, which is a competitor to the A320 family that Airbus is finishing in China, has had trouble re-entering the Chinese market following a 20-month grounding that started in March of 2019 following two fatal crashes that killed a total of 346 people.
Boeing's problems in China go far beyond the latest grounding
China was one of the last countries to allow the plane to fly in its airspace once again, and, even with that clearance, none of the Chinese customers of the plane have accepted deliveries of the 138 Boeing built for them during the grounding that are still sitting in the aircraft maker’s inventory. Boeing has been forced to try to find other buyers for some of those aircraft at discounted prices.
The 737 Max has been losing the competition with the A320 family outside of China as well, but it’s not the total shutout that Boeing is experiencing in China.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun has said all Boeing can do is wait and hope for relations between the two countries to improve so it can again start making substantial sales and deliveries in China.
“My hope is that these two big geopolitical forces get together and endorse free trade again … so that they can take more deliveries of airplanes,” Calhoun told investors in October.
“But it’s really hard for me to find signals that things are going to change in China and move in our direction,” he added.
PP
https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/06/business ... index.html
New York
CNN
—
Airbus announced plans Thursday for a second final-assembly line in China, the latest sign that it has a lock on the key aviation market over rival Boeing.
The announcement came as part of a state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to China. The signing of the agreement by Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury was witnessed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and by Macron.
It will add another line to the final-assembly facility that Airbus opened in Tianjin, China, in 2008, which has put the final touches on 600 A320 aircraft to date.
Airbus (EADSF) operates four assembly sites around the world but it forecasts that China’s air traffic in particular will grow 5.3% annually over the next 20 years, significantly faster than the world average of 3.6%.
This will lead to a demand for 8,420 passenger and freighter aircraft between now and 2041, representing more than 20% of the world’s total demand for new aircraft, Airbus predicts.
Boeing (BA) has similar forecasts for China’s aircraft demand.
Soured trade relations
But worsening trade relations between the United States and China have basically locked Boeing out of that key market for aircraft. Thursday’s deal includes the sale of another 160 Airbus aircraft to China, where more than 2,100 are in service already.
Boeing has not reported an order for a commercial passenger plane from a Chinese airline since 2017, only for orders from Chinese aircraft leasing companies that could be buying them on behalf of buyers outside of China, or for freighter aircraft, a segment of the market that Boeing dominates.
And deliveries to Chinese customers by Boeing have plunged. So far this year it has delivered only one 777 freighter to China Air Cargo, and there were only 12 jets delivered in 2022: eight freighters and four to a leasing company.
In 2017, the year the Trump administration first levied tariffs on US imports of Chinese goods, sparking a tit-for-tat trade tiff, Boeing delivered 161 jets to China, and slightly more in the following year. But with the 737 Max grounding and the pandemic causing a sharp fall off in demand for air travel, Boeing deliveries to China plunged to 45 in 2019, and to 27 in the three-plus years since then.
Boeing’s best selling plane, the 737 Max, which is a competitor to the A320 family that Airbus is finishing in China, has had trouble re-entering the Chinese market following a 20-month grounding that started in March of 2019 following two fatal crashes that killed a total of 346 people.
Boeing's problems in China go far beyond the latest grounding
China was one of the last countries to allow the plane to fly in its airspace once again, and, even with that clearance, none of the Chinese customers of the plane have accepted deliveries of the 138 Boeing built for them during the grounding that are still sitting in the aircraft maker’s inventory. Boeing has been forced to try to find other buyers for some of those aircraft at discounted prices.
The 737 Max has been losing the competition with the A320 family outside of China as well, but it’s not the total shutout that Boeing is experiencing in China.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun has said all Boeing can do is wait and hope for relations between the two countries to improve so it can again start making substantial sales and deliveries in China.
“My hope is that these two big geopolitical forces get together and endorse free trade again … so that they can take more deliveries of airplanes,” Calhoun told investors in October.
“But it’s really hard for me to find signals that things are going to change in China and move in our direction,” he added.
PP
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OFSO
- Chief Pilot
- Posts: 18701
- Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2015 6:39 pm
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Re: More Boeing Bad News
Boeing shares fell over 6% on Friday after Boeing said 737 Max fuselage deliveries would significantly fall behind schedule, after supplier Spirit AeroSystems were found to have used non-standard production methods for fittings. Shares in Spirit AS dropped more than 17%.
Too Bad Boeing Doesn't Make Airplanes Out of Paper
Paper airplane designed by Boeing engineers breaks world distance record
https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/14/world/pa ... index.html
It’s a bird… It’s a plane… It’s a paper airplane!
The world record for the farthest flight by paper airplane has been broken by three aerospace engineers with a paper aircraft that flew a grand total of 289 feet, 9 inches (88 meters), nearly the length of an American football field.
They beat the previous record of 252 feet, 7 inches (77 meters) achieved on April 2022 by a trio in South Korea. Prior to that, the record had not been broken in over a decade.
“It really put things on the map and it’s a really proud moment for family and friends,” said Dillon Ruble, a systems engineer at Boeing and now paper airplane record holder, in a release. “It’s a good tie in to aerospace and thinking along the lines of designing and creating prototypes.”
Ruble worked alongside Garrett Jensen, a strength engineer also with Boeing, and aerospace engineer Nathaniel Erickson. The trio are recent graduates who studied aerospace engineering and mechanical engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology.
The feat required months of effort, as the team put in nearly 500 hours of studying origami and aerodynamics to create and test multiple prototypes. The engineers put their final design to the test on December 2, 2022, in Crown Point, Indiana, where the record was achieved on Ruble’s third throw.
“We hope this record stands for quite a while — 290 feet (88 meters) is unreal,” Jensen said in the release. “That’s 14 to 15 feet (4.2 to 4.6 meters) over the farthest throw we ever did. It took a lot of planning and a lot of skill to beat the previous record.”
Paper plane physics
The team had decided their best chance at beating the world record would be with an airplane design that focused on speed and minimized drag, so that the plane could fly a far distance in a short amount of time.
Gathering inspiration from various hypersonic aircrafts, vehicles that can fly faster than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5), specifically the NASA X-43A, the team had come up with the winning paper aircraft design — later named “Mach 5.”
“Full-scale and paper airplanes have vast differences in their complexity, but both operate on the same fundamental principles,” said Ruble, via email. “Some of the same design methodologies can be applied to both. One of these methods was our trial-and-error design process. For instance, we would theorize about a fold we could change on our plane, fold it, throw it, and compare the distance to previous iterations to determine if the change was beneficial.”
To find the best technique when it came to throwing the paper airplane, the team ran various simulations and analyzed slow-motion videos of their previous throws.
“We found the optimal angle is about 40 degrees off the ground. Once you’re aiming that high, you throw as hard as possible. That gives us our best distance,” Jensen said in the statement. “It took simulations to figure that out. I didn’t think we could get useful data from a simulation on a paper airplane. Turns out, we could.”
Even down to the paper, which the team had decided that A4 (slightly longer than typical letter sized paper) was the best for manipulating and folding into the winning airplane. With these meticulously thought-out design choices, and careful attention to the numerous rules and guidelines set forth by the Guinness World Record Team, the three were set to break a record.
An artist's conceptual rendering of interactions between a prospective exoplanet and its star. Plasma emitted from the star is deflected by the exoplanet's magnetic field then interacts with the star's magnetic field, resulting in an aurora on the star and the emission of radio waves.
Repeating radio signal leads astronomers to an Earth-size exoplanet
On its record-breaking distance flight the plane was in the air for roughly six seconds. The Guinness paper plane record for duration of flight is currently 29.2 seconds.
“The design objectives for an air-time record would be vastly different from the low-drag version we built for the longest-distance record,” Ruble said via email. “Increasing the wingspan and decreasing the aspect ratio would be the first steps in producing this type of plane.”
Paper airplane aside, Ruble added that this tedious method of back-and-forth trials served as a testament to the importance of rigorous prototyping in the real world.
From origami enthusiasts to aerospace engineers
Ruble and Jensen began their paper plane engineering careers while in middle school, participating in paper airplane events held at Boeing. Ruble said he enjoyed making the paper come to life and the hard work he had to put in to find ways to improve his designs. Both were also fans of origami as kids.
The record-breaking team hopes their accomplishment will inspire other young and aspiring aerospace engineers to chase their dreams.
For those looking to create their own record-breaking paper plane design, the feat is not impossible, but may take some time (and skill).
“Mach 5 flies best at high relative velocity, but to achieve this condition, the aircraft must be launched in a specific manner,” said Ruble via email. “This technique, in addition to the complexity of the plane, means that only the most experienced paper aircraft enthusiasts would have success with the design.
“However, by starting with publicly available designs, anyone can hone their skills to throw paper airplanes farther and higher than all of their friends,” he added.
PP
https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/14/world/pa ... index.html
It’s a bird… It’s a plane… It’s a paper airplane!
The world record for the farthest flight by paper airplane has been broken by three aerospace engineers with a paper aircraft that flew a grand total of 289 feet, 9 inches (88 meters), nearly the length of an American football field.
They beat the previous record of 252 feet, 7 inches (77 meters) achieved on April 2022 by a trio in South Korea. Prior to that, the record had not been broken in over a decade.
“It really put things on the map and it’s a really proud moment for family and friends,” said Dillon Ruble, a systems engineer at Boeing and now paper airplane record holder, in a release. “It’s a good tie in to aerospace and thinking along the lines of designing and creating prototypes.”
Ruble worked alongside Garrett Jensen, a strength engineer also with Boeing, and aerospace engineer Nathaniel Erickson. The trio are recent graduates who studied aerospace engineering and mechanical engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology.
The feat required months of effort, as the team put in nearly 500 hours of studying origami and aerodynamics to create and test multiple prototypes. The engineers put their final design to the test on December 2, 2022, in Crown Point, Indiana, where the record was achieved on Ruble’s third throw.
“We hope this record stands for quite a while — 290 feet (88 meters) is unreal,” Jensen said in the release. “That’s 14 to 15 feet (4.2 to 4.6 meters) over the farthest throw we ever did. It took a lot of planning and a lot of skill to beat the previous record.”
Paper plane physics
The team had decided their best chance at beating the world record would be with an airplane design that focused on speed and minimized drag, so that the plane could fly a far distance in a short amount of time.
Gathering inspiration from various hypersonic aircrafts, vehicles that can fly faster than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5), specifically the NASA X-43A, the team had come up with the winning paper aircraft design — later named “Mach 5.”
“Full-scale and paper airplanes have vast differences in their complexity, but both operate on the same fundamental principles,” said Ruble, via email. “Some of the same design methodologies can be applied to both. One of these methods was our trial-and-error design process. For instance, we would theorize about a fold we could change on our plane, fold it, throw it, and compare the distance to previous iterations to determine if the change was beneficial.”
To find the best technique when it came to throwing the paper airplane, the team ran various simulations and analyzed slow-motion videos of their previous throws.
“We found the optimal angle is about 40 degrees off the ground. Once you’re aiming that high, you throw as hard as possible. That gives us our best distance,” Jensen said in the statement. “It took simulations to figure that out. I didn’t think we could get useful data from a simulation on a paper airplane. Turns out, we could.”
Even down to the paper, which the team had decided that A4 (slightly longer than typical letter sized paper) was the best for manipulating and folding into the winning airplane. With these meticulously thought-out design choices, and careful attention to the numerous rules and guidelines set forth by the Guinness World Record Team, the three were set to break a record.
An artist's conceptual rendering of interactions between a prospective exoplanet and its star. Plasma emitted from the star is deflected by the exoplanet's magnetic field then interacts with the star's magnetic field, resulting in an aurora on the star and the emission of radio waves.
Repeating radio signal leads astronomers to an Earth-size exoplanet
On its record-breaking distance flight the plane was in the air for roughly six seconds. The Guinness paper plane record for duration of flight is currently 29.2 seconds.
“The design objectives for an air-time record would be vastly different from the low-drag version we built for the longest-distance record,” Ruble said via email. “Increasing the wingspan and decreasing the aspect ratio would be the first steps in producing this type of plane.”
Paper airplane aside, Ruble added that this tedious method of back-and-forth trials served as a testament to the importance of rigorous prototyping in the real world.
From origami enthusiasts to aerospace engineers
Ruble and Jensen began their paper plane engineering careers while in middle school, participating in paper airplane events held at Boeing. Ruble said he enjoyed making the paper come to life and the hard work he had to put in to find ways to improve his designs. Both were also fans of origami as kids.
The record-breaking team hopes their accomplishment will inspire other young and aspiring aerospace engineers to chase their dreams.
For those looking to create their own record-breaking paper plane design, the feat is not impossible, but may take some time (and skill).
“Mach 5 flies best at high relative velocity, but to achieve this condition, the aircraft must be launched in a specific manner,” said Ruble via email. “This technique, in addition to the complexity of the plane, means that only the most experienced paper aircraft enthusiasts would have success with the design.
“However, by starting with publicly available designs, anyone can hone their skills to throw paper airplanes farther and higher than all of their friends,” he added.
PP
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Karearea
- Chief Pilot
- Posts: 4817
- Joined: Thu Sep 10, 2015 5:47 am
- Location: The South Island, New Zealand
Paper airplane designed by Boeing engineers breaks world distance record
"And to think that it's the same dear old Moon..."
Re: More Boeing Bad News
Boeing discovers new issue with 737 Max jets but says they can continue flying 
https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/14/business ... index.html
Boeing said it has discovered a manufacturing issue with some 737 Max aircraft, although it insisted the problem is not “an immediate safety of flight issue.”
A supplier used a “non-standard manufacturing process” during the installation of two fittings in the rear fuselage, Boeing said in a statement to CNN.
The company said Max jets can continue flying while inspections are underway and the Federal Aviation Administration said it “validated” that conclusion. It already subjects new 737 Max aircraft to greater scrutiny than it does other newly manufactured planes prior to delivery following two fatal 737 Max crashes.
Boeing declined to say how many 737 Max planes are affected, beyond calling it a “significant number.” Shares are down nearly 6% in premarket trading.
United Airlines said it doesn’t expect “any significant impact on our capacity plans for this summer or the rest of the year.” Southwest Airlines (LUV) said it would work with Boeing on “any needed inspections or part replacements.”
Boeing (BA) has reported only two profitable quarters in the nearly four years since the grounding of the 737 Max. After two fatal crashes that killed 346 people, the jet was grounded for 20 months starting in March 2019. Then a year later, the pandemic brought demand for flying and new aircraft to a near halt — sparking the cancellation of hundreds of jet orders and the pileup of losses for Boeing (BA).
Boeing’s problems in the fourth quarter are tied to its difficult few years since the 737 Max crisis.
For one, the company was saddled with excess inventory of hundreds of the jets. Usually Boeing doesn’t hold onto inventory, as planes are delivered to customers soon after completion.
But even though the 737 Max jets couldn’t be delivered during the grounding, Boeing kept building them — partly to keep its suppliers in business. Then it was forced to find new buyers for some of those planes due to customers canceling orders during the pandemic.
PP
https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/14/business ... index.html
Boeing said it has discovered a manufacturing issue with some 737 Max aircraft, although it insisted the problem is not “an immediate safety of flight issue.”
A supplier used a “non-standard manufacturing process” during the installation of two fittings in the rear fuselage, Boeing said in a statement to CNN.
The company said Max jets can continue flying while inspections are underway and the Federal Aviation Administration said it “validated” that conclusion. It already subjects new 737 Max aircraft to greater scrutiny than it does other newly manufactured planes prior to delivery following two fatal 737 Max crashes.
Boeing declined to say how many 737 Max planes are affected, beyond calling it a “significant number.” Shares are down nearly 6% in premarket trading.
United Airlines said it doesn’t expect “any significant impact on our capacity plans for this summer or the rest of the year.” Southwest Airlines (LUV) said it would work with Boeing on “any needed inspections or part replacements.”
Boeing (BA) has reported only two profitable quarters in the nearly four years since the grounding of the 737 Max. After two fatal crashes that killed 346 people, the jet was grounded for 20 months starting in March 2019. Then a year later, the pandemic brought demand for flying and new aircraft to a near halt — sparking the cancellation of hundreds of jet orders and the pileup of losses for Boeing (BA).
Boeing’s problems in the fourth quarter are tied to its difficult few years since the 737 Max crisis.
For one, the company was saddled with excess inventory of hundreds of the jets. Usually Boeing doesn’t hold onto inventory, as planes are delivered to customers soon after completion.
But even though the 737 Max jets couldn’t be delivered during the grounding, Boeing kept building them — partly to keep its suppliers in business. Then it was forced to find new buyers for some of those planes due to customers canceling orders during the pandemic.
PP
Re: More Boeing Bad News
UPDATED: Boeing says it still will deliver up to 450 737s this year
https://leehamnews.com/2023/04/26/boein ... this-year/
April 26, 2023, © Leeham News — Boeing says it will increase rates on the 737 line in Renton to 38 a month to maintain its plan to deliver between 400 and 450 737 MAX jets to airlines this year.
That was the first line of the company’s first-quarter earnings release, which showed Boeing lost $149 million on the quarter, on revenues of $17.9 billion.
Boeing had optimistically aimed for jumping MAX rates from the current 31 a month, as soon as June. However plans for the 737 line had been in question, after recent revelations that manufacturing problems and a software issue would cause delays in deliveries.
‘Gnarly’ 737 defect to take weeks to fix
Boeing commits to MAX increases
Improving numbers at BCA
‘Gnarly’ 737 defect to take weeks to fix
In its earnings release, Boeing acknowledged that Spirit AeroSystems had notified it that a “non-standard manufacturing process was used on two fittings in the aft fuselage section of certain 737 airplanes.”
Boeing said the error was “not an immediate safety-of-flight issue and the in-service fleet can continue operating safely.”
However, it will require the removal of at least some of the horizontal fins on the tails of affected aircraft, CEO Dave Calhoun told analysts on the earnings call. The re-work will take “a few weeks, not measured in months,” he said.
Calhoun described it as a “gnarly defect” that’s almost impossible for inspectors to spot with the naked eye, given its location and the fact that the fittings are covered with a sealant.
“I will celebrate the fact that an employee witnessed the procedure, raised his hand and said ‘that doesn’t look right,’” Calhoun said.
CFO Brian West said about 75% of the 225 finished but undelivered MAXes in inventory will need rework.
The rework “will impact summer capacity for some of our customers and we feel terrible about that,” Calhoun said.
Working everyday for three weeks on ~170 airframes works out to over eight planes per day.
A bit over-optimistic perhaps?
Boeing commits to MAX increases
Near-term 737 deliveries and production “will be impacted as the program performs necessary inspections and rework,” the company said. However, “the program still expects to deliver 400 to 450 airplanes this year” and “the supplier master schedule remains unchanged including anticipated production rate increases.”
Boeing said the 737 program will increase rates to 38 per month “later this year” and 50 per month “in the 2025-2026 time frame.”
Additionally, Boeing said the 787 program is now producing at a rate of three per month, with plans to go up to five per month by the end of this year. Boeing plans to raise that to 10 per month, also in the 2025-2026 time frame.
Spirit will report to shareholders next week.
Boeing has restarted its third 737 line in Renton and remains committed to opening a fourth line inside its massive Everett plant, the executives said.
Improving numbers for Boeing Commercial Airplanes
There was some good news for Boeing came on its commercial side, where deliveries jumped 37% to 130 airliners, compared to last year’s first quarter, and revenues climbed 60% to $6.7 billion.
However, BCA still reported an operating loss of $615 million and a margin of minus 9.2%. Still, that was an improvement over 1Q 2022, when BCA’s margin was more than minus 21%.
Profits were impacted by “customer considerations” on the 787 program, Boeing said.
BCA has more than 4,500 planes in backlog, worth some $334 billion (at list prices). This points out the need for Boeing to increase rates, so it can unlock that money and potentially pay down its debt. Boeing reported paying $649 million for debt servicing during the first quarter.
Boeing did pay a little down on its debt in the first quarter. It reported owing $55.4 billion to creditors, down from $1.6 billion in the previous quarter. However, its cash on hand (and cash equivalents) fell $2.4 billion during the same period, to $14.8 billion.
Boeing lost $212 million on its Defense and Space business, largely due to taking another $245 million charge on the KC-40 tanker program, related to the need to rework center fuel tanks provided by Triumph. The issue has affected deliveries of commercial 767 freighters as well.
Boeing Global Services turned an $847 million profit. Calhoun said Services had “fully returned to pre-pandemic levels.”
Wall Street shrugged at the losses.
“We’ve seen worse,” wrote Robert Stoddard at Vertical Research, in a note to his clients after the release came out. “Boeing doesn’t really have much choice but to stay the course on its planned production ramp, even if the latest 737 MAX issues will hold up deliveries, add to working capital, and leave the company with a lot to do in the second half.”
PP
https://leehamnews.com/2023/04/26/boein ... this-year/
April 26, 2023, © Leeham News — Boeing says it will increase rates on the 737 line in Renton to 38 a month to maintain its plan to deliver between 400 and 450 737 MAX jets to airlines this year.
That was the first line of the company’s first-quarter earnings release, which showed Boeing lost $149 million on the quarter, on revenues of $17.9 billion.
Boeing had optimistically aimed for jumping MAX rates from the current 31 a month, as soon as June. However plans for the 737 line had been in question, after recent revelations that manufacturing problems and a software issue would cause delays in deliveries.
‘Gnarly’ 737 defect to take weeks to fix
Boeing commits to MAX increases
Improving numbers at BCA
‘Gnarly’ 737 defect to take weeks to fix
In its earnings release, Boeing acknowledged that Spirit AeroSystems had notified it that a “non-standard manufacturing process was used on two fittings in the aft fuselage section of certain 737 airplanes.”
Boeing said the error was “not an immediate safety-of-flight issue and the in-service fleet can continue operating safely.”
However, it will require the removal of at least some of the horizontal fins on the tails of affected aircraft, CEO Dave Calhoun told analysts on the earnings call. The re-work will take “a few weeks, not measured in months,” he said.
Calhoun described it as a “gnarly defect” that’s almost impossible for inspectors to spot with the naked eye, given its location and the fact that the fittings are covered with a sealant.
“I will celebrate the fact that an employee witnessed the procedure, raised his hand and said ‘that doesn’t look right,’” Calhoun said.
CFO Brian West said about 75% of the 225 finished but undelivered MAXes in inventory will need rework.
The rework “will impact summer capacity for some of our customers and we feel terrible about that,” Calhoun said.
Working everyday for three weeks on ~170 airframes works out to over eight planes per day.
A bit over-optimistic perhaps?
Boeing commits to MAX increases
Near-term 737 deliveries and production “will be impacted as the program performs necessary inspections and rework,” the company said. However, “the program still expects to deliver 400 to 450 airplanes this year” and “the supplier master schedule remains unchanged including anticipated production rate increases.”
Boeing said the 737 program will increase rates to 38 per month “later this year” and 50 per month “in the 2025-2026 time frame.”
Additionally, Boeing said the 787 program is now producing at a rate of three per month, with plans to go up to five per month by the end of this year. Boeing plans to raise that to 10 per month, also in the 2025-2026 time frame.
Spirit will report to shareholders next week.
Boeing has restarted its third 737 line in Renton and remains committed to opening a fourth line inside its massive Everett plant, the executives said.
Improving numbers for Boeing Commercial Airplanes
There was some good news for Boeing came on its commercial side, where deliveries jumped 37% to 130 airliners, compared to last year’s first quarter, and revenues climbed 60% to $6.7 billion.
However, BCA still reported an operating loss of $615 million and a margin of minus 9.2%. Still, that was an improvement over 1Q 2022, when BCA’s margin was more than minus 21%.
Profits were impacted by “customer considerations” on the 787 program, Boeing said.
BCA has more than 4,500 planes in backlog, worth some $334 billion (at list prices). This points out the need for Boeing to increase rates, so it can unlock that money and potentially pay down its debt. Boeing reported paying $649 million for debt servicing during the first quarter.
Boeing did pay a little down on its debt in the first quarter. It reported owing $55.4 billion to creditors, down from $1.6 billion in the previous quarter. However, its cash on hand (and cash equivalents) fell $2.4 billion during the same period, to $14.8 billion.
Boeing lost $212 million on its Defense and Space business, largely due to taking another $245 million charge on the KC-40 tanker program, related to the need to rework center fuel tanks provided by Triumph. The issue has affected deliveries of commercial 767 freighters as well.
Boeing Global Services turned an $847 million profit. Calhoun said Services had “fully returned to pre-pandemic levels.”
Wall Street shrugged at the losses.
“We’ve seen worse,” wrote Robert Stoddard at Vertical Research, in a note to his clients after the release came out. “Boeing doesn’t really have much choice but to stay the course on its planned production ramp, even if the latest 737 MAX issues will hold up deliveries, add to working capital, and leave the company with a lot to do in the second half.”
PP
Re: More Boeing Bad News
Boeing’s problems and losses continue
https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/26/business ... index.html
New York
CNN
—
Losses continued to mount for Boeing, as the supply chain problems caused higher-than-expected losses.
The company reported a loss of $1.27 per share, excluding special, one-off charges and gains. Although that was an improvement from the $2.75 a share it lost on that basis a year earlier, it marked the seventh-straight quarter in which Boeing reported a loss, excluding one-time items.
Since the grounding of the 737 Max in March of 2019, following two crashes that killed 346 people, Boeing has reported only one quarterly profit without the help of special items.
The loss was worse than the forecast of a $1.07 a share from analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. And those analysts don’t expect a near-term end of the red ink at Boeing, with another loss forecast for the current quarter. Wall Street expects only narrow profits in the second half of the year, which are expected to leave Boeing with an annual loss for the fifth-straight year.
The company disclosed earlier this month that a “significant number” of 737 Max jets in production had been affected by a “non-standard manufacturing process” by one of its suppliers which would affect near-term deliveries and production.
But Boeing reaffirmed its earlier guidance that it expects have a positive cash flow this year, and said it expects to build 38 737 Max jets a month later this year, and to deliver 400 to 450 of the planes.
Company executives said, despite these latest problems with the 737 Max, its financial results show progress for the company, because its loss is smaller than its loss from a year earlier.
“We continue to make real progress, steady progress in our recovery,” said CEO Dave Calhoun. “Challenges remain. There’s more to do. But overall, we feel good about the operational and financial outlook.”
Calhoun insisted both Boeing and its supplier Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) know how to fix the problems that were discovered with the 737 Max assembly and that there is no risk to the planes that are already in operation. But he confirmed that deliveries will be delayed in the coming months, which will affect the ability of some Boeing customers to fly the full schedule of flights they had intended this summer.
“We feel terrible about that,” he said.
But the Max is not the only plane for which Boeing is trying to recover from problems. The 787 Dreamliner had deliveries halted for about a year due to quality control issues and only resumed deliveries in September. The company booked $379 million in increased costs for the 787 program in the first quarter along with an undisclosed amount of compensation to airline customer which had deliveries delayed. It also still has some of the 787 Dreamliners that need modification in its inventory.
Boeing traditionally has not had inventory of completed planes, delivering them and receiving payment soon after completing assembly. But it has been stuck with unusually high inventory numbers ever since it continued production of the 737 Max during its 20-month grounding. It still has 225 of the Max in inventory, with 138 of those planes awaiting delivery to China.
Boeing discovers new issue with 737 Max jets but says they can continue flying
While Chinese aviation authorities are again allowing the 737 Max to fly there, Chinese airlines have yet to accept delivery of any of those planes. The rising trade tensions between the United States and China have essentially shut Boeing out of that key market for several years now.
“We are working very hard to regain China,” Calhoun told investors.
Still despite all the continued problems and bigger than forecast loss, Boeing (BA)’s assurances on cash flow and full-year 737 Max deliveries helped lift shares of Boeing (BA) 3% in midday trading.
PP
https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/26/business ... index.html
New York
CNN
—
Losses continued to mount for Boeing, as the supply chain problems caused higher-than-expected losses.
The company reported a loss of $1.27 per share, excluding special, one-off charges and gains. Although that was an improvement from the $2.75 a share it lost on that basis a year earlier, it marked the seventh-straight quarter in which Boeing reported a loss, excluding one-time items.
Since the grounding of the 737 Max in March of 2019, following two crashes that killed 346 people, Boeing has reported only one quarterly profit without the help of special items.
The loss was worse than the forecast of a $1.07 a share from analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. And those analysts don’t expect a near-term end of the red ink at Boeing, with another loss forecast for the current quarter. Wall Street expects only narrow profits in the second half of the year, which are expected to leave Boeing with an annual loss for the fifth-straight year.
The company disclosed earlier this month that a “significant number” of 737 Max jets in production had been affected by a “non-standard manufacturing process” by one of its suppliers which would affect near-term deliveries and production.
But Boeing reaffirmed its earlier guidance that it expects have a positive cash flow this year, and said it expects to build 38 737 Max jets a month later this year, and to deliver 400 to 450 of the planes.
Company executives said, despite these latest problems with the 737 Max, its financial results show progress for the company, because its loss is smaller than its loss from a year earlier.
“We continue to make real progress, steady progress in our recovery,” said CEO Dave Calhoun. “Challenges remain. There’s more to do. But overall, we feel good about the operational and financial outlook.”
Calhoun insisted both Boeing and its supplier Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) know how to fix the problems that were discovered with the 737 Max assembly and that there is no risk to the planes that are already in operation. But he confirmed that deliveries will be delayed in the coming months, which will affect the ability of some Boeing customers to fly the full schedule of flights they had intended this summer.
“We feel terrible about that,” he said.
But the Max is not the only plane for which Boeing is trying to recover from problems. The 787 Dreamliner had deliveries halted for about a year due to quality control issues and only resumed deliveries in September. The company booked $379 million in increased costs for the 787 program in the first quarter along with an undisclosed amount of compensation to airline customer which had deliveries delayed. It also still has some of the 787 Dreamliners that need modification in its inventory.
Boeing traditionally has not had inventory of completed planes, delivering them and receiving payment soon after completing assembly. But it has been stuck with unusually high inventory numbers ever since it continued production of the 737 Max during its 20-month grounding. It still has 225 of the Max in inventory, with 138 of those planes awaiting delivery to China.
Boeing discovers new issue with 737 Max jets but says they can continue flying
While Chinese aviation authorities are again allowing the 737 Max to fly there, Chinese airlines have yet to accept delivery of any of those planes. The rising trade tensions between the United States and China have essentially shut Boeing out of that key market for several years now.
“We are working very hard to regain China,” Calhoun told investors.
Still despite all the continued problems and bigger than forecast loss, Boeing (BA)’s assurances on cash flow and full-year 737 Max deliveries helped lift shares of Boeing (BA) 3% in midday trading.
PP
Re: More Boeing Bad News
What kind of a Mickey-Mouse operation is this?PHXPhlyer wrote: ↑Wed Apr 26, 2023 5:55 pm
Boeing had optimistically aimed for jumping MAX rates from the current 31 a month, as soon as June. However plans for the 737 line had been in question, after recent revelations that manufacturing problems and a software issue would cause delays in deliveries.
‘Gnarly’ 737 defect to take weeks to fix
Boeing commits to MAX increases
Improving numbers at BCA
‘Gnarly’ 737 defect to take weeks to fix
In its earnings release, Boeing acknowledged that Spirit AeroSystems had notified it that a “non-standard manufacturing process was used on two fittings in the aft fuselage section of certain 737 airplanes.”
Boeing said the error was “not an immediate safety-of-flight issue and the in-service fleet can continue operating safely.”
However, it will require the removal of at least some of the horizontal fins on the tails of affected aircraft, CEO Dave Calhoun told analysts on the earnings call. The re-work will take “a few weeks, not measured in months,” he said.
Calhoun described it as a “gnarly defect” that’s almost impossible for inspectors to spot with the naked eye, given its location and the fact that the fittings are covered with a sealant.
“I will celebrate the fact that an employee witnessed the procedure, raised his hand and said ‘that doesn’t look right,’” Calhoun said.
CFO Brian West said about 75% of the 225 finished but undelivered MAXes in inventory will need rework.
The rework “will impact summer capacity for some of our customers and we feel terrible about that,” Calhoun said.
Boeing commits to MAX increases
Near-term 737 deliveries and production “will be impacted as the program performs necessary inspections and rework,” the company said. However, “the program still expects to deliver 400 to 450 airplanes this year” and “the supplier master schedule remains unchanged including anticipated production rate increases.”
Boeing said the 737 program will increase rates to 38 per month “later this year” and 50 per month “in the 2025-2026 time frame.”
Improving numbers for Boeing Commercial Airplanes
There was some good news for Boeing came on its commercial side, where deliveries jumped 37% to 130 airliners, compared to last year’s first quarter, and revenues climbed 60% to $6.7 billion.
However, BCA still reported an operating loss of $615 million and a margin of minus 9.2%. Still, that was an improvement over 1Q 2022, when BCA’s margin was more than minus 21%.
BCA has more than 4,500 planes in backlog, worth some $334 billion (at list prices). This points out the need for Boeing to increase rates, so it can unlock that money and potentially pay down its debt. Boeing reported paying $649 million for debt servicing during the first quarter.
Boeing did pay a little down on its debt in the first quarter. It reported owing $55.4 billion to creditors, down from $1.6 billion in the previous quarter. However, its cash on hand (and cash equivalents) fell $2.4 billion during the same period, to $14.8 billion.
Boeing lost $212 million on its Defense and Space business, largely due to taking another $245 million charge on the KC-40 tanker program, related to the need to rework center fuel tanks provided by Triumph. The issue has affected deliveries of commercial 767 freighters as well.
“Boeing doesn’t really have much choice but to stay the course on its planned production ramp, even if the latest 737 MAX issues will hold up deliveries, add to working capital, and leave the company with a lot to do in the second half.”
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Fox3WheresMyBanana
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Re: More Boeing Bad News
I believe Mickey Mouse's little empire is collapsing at about the same rate, yes ;)
Re: More Boeing Bad News
FAA headquarters initially overrode its own engineers’ 737 Max grounding recommendation
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/faa- ... index.html
The Federal Aviation Administration initially overrode its own engineers’ recommendations in 2019 to ground the Boeing 737 Max after a second fatal crash, according to a new watchdog report.
The inspector general for the Department of Transportation said investigators interviewed agency officials and reviewed evidence showing engineers at the FAA’s aircraft certification office overseeing Boeing “recommended grounding the airplane while the accident was being investigated based on what they perceived as similarities between” the two fatal crashes.
There was also competing data, the report said, suggesting the crashes were not related to the same system.
“Yet Agency officials at Headquarters and the Seattle ACO opted not to do so; instead, they waited for more detailed data to arrive,” the report concluded.
Boeing's problems and losses continue
The conversations were taking place after the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on March 10, 2019. Lion Air Flight 610 crashed October 29, 2018. The crashes killed a combined 346 people.
The US did not ground the plane until three days after the crash, after every other country worldwide had. The grounding ultimately lasted nearly two years.
The inspector general report, released Friday, recommended the agency update and improve its policies for evaluating crashes and other events. The FAA told the inspector general it would make updates and develop formal training.
While awaiting additional data in March 2019, FAA officials issued an official notice backing up their decision to allow the Max to continue flying. An engineer drafted an analysis which showed the risk of fatalities to be 13 times higher than the relevant FAA standard. “However,” the inspector general’s report said, “this document was not completed and did not go through managerial review due to lack of detailed flight data.”
The inspector general concluded the FAA’s decision-making on the grounding after the second crash “aligned with its typical processes” by waiting for detailed data, but called the processes “outdated” and said officials are not uniformly trained on how to use them.
The FAA told the inspector general it is updating its guidelines for grounding an aircraft when it discovers an urgent safety issue, and told CNN in a statement it “concurs with the Inspector General’s recommendations.”
“The agency also identified the issues outlined in the report before it was issued and is working to address them,” the FAA said. “As we incorporate these recommendations, we also continue to look for additional opportunities to apply lessons learned from the Boeing 737 MAX’s return to service.”
PP
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/faa- ... index.html
The Federal Aviation Administration initially overrode its own engineers’ recommendations in 2019 to ground the Boeing 737 Max after a second fatal crash, according to a new watchdog report.
The inspector general for the Department of Transportation said investigators interviewed agency officials and reviewed evidence showing engineers at the FAA’s aircraft certification office overseeing Boeing “recommended grounding the airplane while the accident was being investigated based on what they perceived as similarities between” the two fatal crashes.
There was also competing data, the report said, suggesting the crashes were not related to the same system.
“Yet Agency officials at Headquarters and the Seattle ACO opted not to do so; instead, they waited for more detailed data to arrive,” the report concluded.
Boeing's problems and losses continue
The conversations were taking place after the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on March 10, 2019. Lion Air Flight 610 crashed October 29, 2018. The crashes killed a combined 346 people.
The US did not ground the plane until three days after the crash, after every other country worldwide had. The grounding ultimately lasted nearly two years.
The inspector general report, released Friday, recommended the agency update and improve its policies for evaluating crashes and other events. The FAA told the inspector general it would make updates and develop formal training.
While awaiting additional data in March 2019, FAA officials issued an official notice backing up their decision to allow the Max to continue flying. An engineer drafted an analysis which showed the risk of fatalities to be 13 times higher than the relevant FAA standard. “However,” the inspector general’s report said, “this document was not completed and did not go through managerial review due to lack of detailed flight data.”
The inspector general concluded the FAA’s decision-making on the grounding after the second crash “aligned with its typical processes” by waiting for detailed data, but called the processes “outdated” and said officials are not uniformly trained on how to use them.
The FAA told the inspector general it is updating its guidelines for grounding an aircraft when it discovers an urgent safety issue, and told CNN in a statement it “concurs with the Inspector General’s recommendations.”
“The agency also identified the issues outlined in the report before it was issued and is working to address them,” the FAA said. “As we incorporate these recommendations, we also continue to look for additional opportunities to apply lessons learned from the Boeing 737 MAX’s return to service.”
PP
Re: More Boeing Bad News
Boeing warns new defect on 787 Dreamliners will slow deliveries
The problem is the latest in a spate of manufacturing issues on Boeing planes that have slowed if not paused deliveries of certain aircraft outright.
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/busine ... -rcna88003
Boeing on Tuesday warned about a new defect on its 787 Dreamliner planes and that it will delay deliveries of the wide-body aircraft, the manufacturer’s latest production issue.
“We are inspecting 787s in our inventory for a nonconforming condition related to a fitting on the horizontal stabilizer,” Boeing said in a statement. “Airplanes found to have a nonconforming condition will be reworked prior to ticket and delivery.”
The issue Boeing detected relates to tiny spacing in the horizontal stabilizer. Boeing said it isn’t related to flight safety and that planes in service can continue operating. Near-term deliveries will be delayed by about two weeks, Boeing said.
The problem is the latest in a spate of manufacturing issues on Boeing planes that have slowed if not paused deliveries of certain aircraft outright, just as airlines are clamoring for new planes to capitalize on the travel boom.
Boeing had paused deliveries of the planes for several weeks earlier this year because of a separate problem on a fuselage component on certain 787s. The latest issue currently doesn’t affect Boeing’s full-year outlook for Dreamliner deliveries, the company said. Boeing has estimated that it would deliver between 70 and 80 of the planes this year.
The company has also had to rework some of its bestselling 737 Max planes this year because of an issues with fittings in some planes’ aft fuselages, made by Spirit Aerosystems.
Boeing shares fell sharply on the news but largely recovered, and were recently down less than 1% in afternoon trading.
PP
The problem is the latest in a spate of manufacturing issues on Boeing planes that have slowed if not paused deliveries of certain aircraft outright.
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/busine ... -rcna88003
Boeing on Tuesday warned about a new defect on its 787 Dreamliner planes and that it will delay deliveries of the wide-body aircraft, the manufacturer’s latest production issue.
“We are inspecting 787s in our inventory for a nonconforming condition related to a fitting on the horizontal stabilizer,” Boeing said in a statement. “Airplanes found to have a nonconforming condition will be reworked prior to ticket and delivery.”
The issue Boeing detected relates to tiny spacing in the horizontal stabilizer. Boeing said it isn’t related to flight safety and that planes in service can continue operating. Near-term deliveries will be delayed by about two weeks, Boeing said.
The problem is the latest in a spate of manufacturing issues on Boeing planes that have slowed if not paused deliveries of certain aircraft outright, just as airlines are clamoring for new planes to capitalize on the travel boom.
Boeing had paused deliveries of the planes for several weeks earlier this year because of a separate problem on a fuselage component on certain 787s. The latest issue currently doesn’t affect Boeing’s full-year outlook for Dreamliner deliveries, the company said. Boeing has estimated that it would deliver between 70 and 80 of the planes this year.
The company has also had to rework some of its bestselling 737 Max planes this year because of an issues with fittings in some planes’ aft fuselages, made by Spirit Aerosystems.
Boeing shares fell sharply on the news but largely recovered, and were recently down less than 1% in afternoon trading.
PP
Re: More Boeing Bad News
Boeing supplier shuts down plant after workers vote to strike
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/22/business ... index.html
Spirit AeroSystems, a key supplier to Boeing, shut down its factory in Wichita, Kansas, on Thursday after workers represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers voted to strike.
The suspended production comes after employees voted down Spirit AeroSystems’ “best and final offer” and then authorized a strike, according to the union. The work stoppage is set to begin on Saturday.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, or IAM, represents about 6,000 workers at the plant. The contract was rejected by 79% of members and 85% voted to strike, the union said.
“The IAM’s dedicated and hardworking membership at Spirit AeroSystems has worked without fail during tumultuous times, including a pandemic that saw everything grind to a halt. Most of our members have concluded that the company’s offer is unacceptable,” the union said in a statement late Wednesday.
In response, Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) said IAM-represented employees should not report to work on Thursday morning but will receive pay.
“We are disappointed that our employees represented by the IAM rejected our four-year contract offer and voted to strike. We believe that our fair and competitive offer recognizes the contributions of our employees and ensures we can successfully meet increasing demand for aircraft from our customers,” the company noted it its statement.
The union is now in the process of polling its members to see where the main concerns and issues with the proposed contract are. Those results are expected in the coming days, the union said.
“We are anxious to see what our memberships says, and we will try to get their concerns addressed,” said Rickey Wallace, general vice president of the IAM – Southern Territory.
A federal mediator has been assigned to help facilitate discussions and mediate a deal, at the request of the union.
The two sides, who have been negotiating since May, had come to a tentative agreement last week. The proposed deal included a 34% pay increase, continued health insurance, a 14.7% increase in retirement benefits with a new 401k match, voluntary Sunday overtime, and increased time off, according to the union. But rank and file members voted down the contract Wednesday.
Spirit AeroSystems is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of aerostructures, airplanes including fuselages and wing components. The company supplies parts for seven Boeing models and four Airbus models as well as for Bombardier, Northrop, Bell Helicopter, Mitsubishi and Lockheed.
“It’s a concern,” said Wallace of being able to service Spirit AeroSystems’ clients. “Our wish is to get this resolved as soon as possible and get our members back to work and get Spirit AeroSystems moving again.”
Analysts suggest an even more robust financial contract for workers will have inflationary implications for the rest of the industry.
“We don’t know the price to make these workers happy. That’s scary,” said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst and managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory. “This is an industry that’s been deflationary for decades. This is new terrain.”
The IAM and Spirit AeroSystems are coming off a 10-year contract agreement negotiated in 2010, with a three-year extension in 2020.
“It’s been a long time since the parties have been to the table. Some of it’s frustration over that,” Wallace said of the membership’s vote not to ratify the deal. “It’s a fairly rich contract offer.”
The strike is scheduled to begin at 12:01 am CT on Saturday June 24 when IAM’s current contract with Spirit AeroSystems expires. The two sides say they still intend to meet at the bargaining table again soon.
PP
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/22/business ... index.html
Spirit AeroSystems, a key supplier to Boeing, shut down its factory in Wichita, Kansas, on Thursday after workers represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers voted to strike.
The suspended production comes after employees voted down Spirit AeroSystems’ “best and final offer” and then authorized a strike, according to the union. The work stoppage is set to begin on Saturday.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, or IAM, represents about 6,000 workers at the plant. The contract was rejected by 79% of members and 85% voted to strike, the union said.
“The IAM’s dedicated and hardworking membership at Spirit AeroSystems has worked without fail during tumultuous times, including a pandemic that saw everything grind to a halt. Most of our members have concluded that the company’s offer is unacceptable,” the union said in a statement late Wednesday.
In response, Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) said IAM-represented employees should not report to work on Thursday morning but will receive pay.
“We are disappointed that our employees represented by the IAM rejected our four-year contract offer and voted to strike. We believe that our fair and competitive offer recognizes the contributions of our employees and ensures we can successfully meet increasing demand for aircraft from our customers,” the company noted it its statement.
The union is now in the process of polling its members to see where the main concerns and issues with the proposed contract are. Those results are expected in the coming days, the union said.
“We are anxious to see what our memberships says, and we will try to get their concerns addressed,” said Rickey Wallace, general vice president of the IAM – Southern Territory.
A federal mediator has been assigned to help facilitate discussions and mediate a deal, at the request of the union.
The two sides, who have been negotiating since May, had come to a tentative agreement last week. The proposed deal included a 34% pay increase, continued health insurance, a 14.7% increase in retirement benefits with a new 401k match, voluntary Sunday overtime, and increased time off, according to the union. But rank and file members voted down the contract Wednesday.
Spirit AeroSystems is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of aerostructures, airplanes including fuselages and wing components. The company supplies parts for seven Boeing models and four Airbus models as well as for Bombardier, Northrop, Bell Helicopter, Mitsubishi and Lockheed.
“It’s a concern,” said Wallace of being able to service Spirit AeroSystems’ clients. “Our wish is to get this resolved as soon as possible and get our members back to work and get Spirit AeroSystems moving again.”
Analysts suggest an even more robust financial contract for workers will have inflationary implications for the rest of the industry.
“We don’t know the price to make these workers happy. That’s scary,” said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst and managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory. “This is an industry that’s been deflationary for decades. This is new terrain.”
The IAM and Spirit AeroSystems are coming off a 10-year contract agreement negotiated in 2010, with a three-year extension in 2020.
“It’s been a long time since the parties have been to the table. Some of it’s frustration over that,” Wallace said of the membership’s vote not to ratify the deal. “It’s a fairly rich contract offer.”
The strike is scheduled to begin at 12:01 am CT on Saturday June 24 when IAM’s current contract with Spirit AeroSystems expires. The two sides say they still intend to meet at the bargaining table again soon.
PP
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tango15
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Re: More Boeing Bad News
This is exactly what happened to the BAe/Raytheon/Hawker Beechcraft 125. Hawker Beechcraft was not big enough to absorb the costs and difficulties of transferring the production to another company and/or another site, although they did investigate moving it to Louisiana, but the unions held out and bankrupted them, which is why the 125/Hawker XP, etc., is no longer produced and the PC-24 is.
The union problems with these companies remind me of those in the British car industries in the 1970s.
The union problems with these companies remind me of those in the British car industries in the 1970s.
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OFSO
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Re: More Boeing Bad News
The probe of an April 2018 engine failure on a Southwest Airlines 737-700 that led to a passenger fatality prompted investigators to conclude that Boeing must redesign CFM56-7B nacelles. The new design is meant to prevent parts from shedding and damaging the fuselage and flight control surfaces.
New requirements to mitigate risks from maintenance errors are complicating Boeing’s already prolonged effort to get regulatory approval on its planned 737 Next Generation nacelle retrofit.
Credit: NTSB
New requirements to mitigate risks from maintenance errors are complicating Boeing’s already prolonged effort to get regulatory approval on its planned 737 Next Generation nacelle retrofit.
Credit: NTSB
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OFSO
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Re: More Boeing Bad News
Boeing said a new manufacturing flaw on its best-selling 737 Max will delay deliveries of its best-selling aircraft, the latest setback as the company tries to hand over more planes.
The company said it found fastener holes on the aft pressure bulkhead on some 737 planes were improperly drilled.
The company said it found fastener holes on the aft pressure bulkhead on some 737 planes were improperly drilled.
Re: More Boeing Bad News
Oh, that's nothing to worry about, then, the aft pressure bulkhead with possible fatigue fracture points - what could go wrong................
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barkingmad
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Re: More Boeing Bad News
[quote=OFSO post_id=374531 time=1692855056 user_id=54]
Boeing said a new manufacturing flaw on its best-selling 737 Max will delay deliveries of its best-selling aircraft, the latest setback as the company tries to hand over more planes.
The company said it found fastener holes on the aft pressure bulkhead on some 737 planes were improperly drilled.
[/quote]
Which sounds to me very like the AHF Ducommun scandal over the manufacturing techniques used in early 73NGs which was evident in the first decade of their production run.
“Bearsstraps” around the doors and fuselage fittings were under scrutiny at the time, a female whistleblower who raised the initial warning flag was first given an award by Boeing for her diligence but mysteriously later fired.
Just one example of many reports oozing out of leaking faucets at the time;
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/whi ... rning-7775
One day it might make a good ’Watergate’ type of movie but I will be long gone by then.
Boeing said a new manufacturing flaw on its best-selling 737 Max will delay deliveries of its best-selling aircraft, the latest setback as the company tries to hand over more planes.
The company said it found fastener holes on the aft pressure bulkhead on some 737 planes were improperly drilled.
[/quote]
Which sounds to me very like the AHF Ducommun scandal over the manufacturing techniques used in early 73NGs which was evident in the first decade of their production run.
“Bearsstraps” around the doors and fuselage fittings were under scrutiny at the time, a female whistleblower who raised the initial warning flag was first given an award by Boeing for her diligence but mysteriously later fired.
Just one example of many reports oozing out of leaking faucets at the time;
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/whi ... rning-7775
One day it might make a good ’Watergate’ type of movie but I will be long gone by then.
Re: More Boeing Bad News
Air Force One debacle: Boeing has now lost more than $1 billion on each of the president’s two new jets
https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/25/business ... index.html
Cost overruns for the new Air Force One jets continue to pile on massive losses for Boeing.
Boeing on Wednesday reported another $482 million in red ink on the contract to retrofit two 747 jets into the next generation of the presidential plane. Boeing has now lost more than $1 billion on each of the two jets.
The company has been reporting losses on the planes for years, as CEO Dave Calhoun admitted last year that the company should never have signed the contract with the Air Force to produce the jets for $3.9 billion. Supplier costs have soared since then, and the delivery date has been continually pushed back. Boeing took $1.45 billion in losses on the planes last year, and $318 million in 2021.
“Air Force One, I’m just going to call a very unique moment, a very unique negotiation. A very unique set of risks that Boeing probably shouldn’t have taken,” Calhoun said in April last year when discussing $660 million of those losses reported at that time. “But we are where we are.”
The company said the latest loss on the program is a result of engineering changes, labor instability, as well as the resolution of negotiations with one of its suppliers.
Very often higher costs on defense contracts can be passed onto US taxpayers, but under pressure from then-President Donald Trump, who was threatening to cancel the contract for the planes, Boeing agreed to a fixed price contract on the two new jets.
Technically the program is known as the VC-25B, since the famous “Air Force One” designation is reserved for when the president is actually on any US Air Force-operated plane, not when it is on the ground, let alone under construction.
The latest loss on the Air Force One jets is only a fraction of the losses reported by the troubled aircraft manufacturer, which has reported losses in all but two quarters since early 2019. Total losses at the company now total $25.5 billion since the grounding of its 737 Max jet for 20 months starting in March of 2019, following two fatal crashes that killed 346 people.
Wednesday it reported another core operating loss of $1.1 billion, or $3.26 a share. While that’s down 65% from the loss reported in the same quarter a year earlier, it’s worse than the $2.96 a share loss forecast by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. The company had reported a bigger than expected loss almost every quarter since its problems began.
Revenue was slightly better than forecasts though, rising 13% to $18.1 billion. And while the company trimmed the number of 737 Max jets it expects to deliver this year, it announced it is increasing the number of 787 jets it is building to five per month, and it plans to complete its increase in 737 production to 38 a month by the end of the year.
That guidance, and the company saying it still expects to be cash flow positive for the year, helped lift Boeing shares 3% in premarket trading.
PP
https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/25/business ... index.html
Cost overruns for the new Air Force One jets continue to pile on massive losses for Boeing.
Boeing on Wednesday reported another $482 million in red ink on the contract to retrofit two 747 jets into the next generation of the presidential plane. Boeing has now lost more than $1 billion on each of the two jets.
The company has been reporting losses on the planes for years, as CEO Dave Calhoun admitted last year that the company should never have signed the contract with the Air Force to produce the jets for $3.9 billion. Supplier costs have soared since then, and the delivery date has been continually pushed back. Boeing took $1.45 billion in losses on the planes last year, and $318 million in 2021.
“Air Force One, I’m just going to call a very unique moment, a very unique negotiation. A very unique set of risks that Boeing probably shouldn’t have taken,” Calhoun said in April last year when discussing $660 million of those losses reported at that time. “But we are where we are.”
The company said the latest loss on the program is a result of engineering changes, labor instability, as well as the resolution of negotiations with one of its suppliers.
Very often higher costs on defense contracts can be passed onto US taxpayers, but under pressure from then-President Donald Trump, who was threatening to cancel the contract for the planes, Boeing agreed to a fixed price contract on the two new jets.
Technically the program is known as the VC-25B, since the famous “Air Force One” designation is reserved for when the president is actually on any US Air Force-operated plane, not when it is on the ground, let alone under construction.
The latest loss on the Air Force One jets is only a fraction of the losses reported by the troubled aircraft manufacturer, which has reported losses in all but two quarters since early 2019. Total losses at the company now total $25.5 billion since the grounding of its 737 Max jet for 20 months starting in March of 2019, following two fatal crashes that killed 346 people.
Wednesday it reported another core operating loss of $1.1 billion, or $3.26 a share. While that’s down 65% from the loss reported in the same quarter a year earlier, it’s worse than the $2.96 a share loss forecast by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. The company had reported a bigger than expected loss almost every quarter since its problems began.
Revenue was slightly better than forecasts though, rising 13% to $18.1 billion. And while the company trimmed the number of 737 Max jets it expects to deliver this year, it announced it is increasing the number of 787 jets it is building to five per month, and it plans to complete its increase in 737 production to 38 a month by the end of the year.
That guidance, and the company saying it still expects to be cash flow positive for the year, helped lift Boeing shares 3% in premarket trading.
PP