Edition 70
Last week, Boeing declared its third quarter results with a over $6 billion loss. This was followed by the machinist union voting to continue the strike. This comes amidst the fact that Boeing paid a considerable compensation to its erstwhile CEO and appointed a new one in another of its challenging years. Starting with the Lion Air crash, followed by Ethiopian and subsequent grounding, there has been one line that is being parroted that Boeing is committed to safety and that it gives utmost importance to safety.
Yet there has always seemed to be a slip between the cup and the lip with one or the other incident happening including the one with Alaska Air where the bolts were simply missing. If this is the “utmost” importance, one wonders what it was in the “non utmost” phase. For a common man, it looks like the FAA which prides itself for auditing other countries, seems to have turned its head in another direction when it comes to their own backyard, something which was highlighted by the NTSB investigation about the actuator issue, another Boeing issue, though the part is not manufactured by Boeing.
Amidst this, as the production of the MAX aircraft remains suspended one wonders what is the way forward. Boeing has definitely done more harm to itself than what Airbus could do to it. Sometimes I even wonder if Boeing would have been in a better place had it continued with the Embraer deal because in that case it would have had a plane to sell which is manufactured at a place outside the current ones.
Hard talk aside, Boeing needs a hard reset where it accepts there is a challenge and has a way to deal with it. Even the most ardent of Boeing supporters admit that things are wrong and in aviation whatsapp groups, Boeing has become a topic of ridicule. While its Diwali in India, there are fireworks across the world too!
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