Boeing 737Max Back In the News

92tide

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maybe their stellar management team can figure out how to disrupt this stream of negative p.r. hits



Secretary of State Antony Blinken was forced to change planes to return to Washington from Davos after his plane suffered what the traveling press was told was a critical failure related to an oxygen leak.

Blinken and the traveling party boarded the modified Boeing 737 jet in Zurich on Wednesday after a day and a half of meetings at the global summit in Davos.

The plane suffered the issue after boarding and the party was forced to deplane, according to traveling press.
 

92tide

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The fuselage panel that blew off an Alaska Airlines jet earlier this month was removed for repair then reinstalled improperly by Boeing mechanics on the Renton final assembly line, a person familiar with the details of the work told The Seattle Times.

If verified by the National Transportation Safety Board investigation, this would leave Boeing primarily at fault for the accident, rather than its supplier Spirit AeroSystems, which originally installed the panel into the 737 MAX 9 fuselage in Wichita, Kan.
 

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The fuselage panel that blew off an Alaska Airlines jet earlier this month was removed for repair then reinstalled improperly by Boeing mechanics on the Renton final assembly line, a person familiar with the details of the work told The Seattle Times.

If verified by the National Transportation Safety Board investigation, this would leave Boeing primarily at fault for the accident, rather than its supplier Spirit AeroSystems, which originally installed the panel into the 737 MAX 9 fuselage in Wichita, Kan.
Couldn't have anything to do with the many quality control personnel layoffs Boeing has made.
 
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Elefantman

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Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems have two different quality control programs that can't communicate with each other. The door was opened by Boeing to repair a door seal but their QC program didn't catch the need to reinstall the four bolts that would have prevented the door coming loose/open in flight.
 

UAH

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Before the bean-counters took over (during the MD merger) Boeing was legendary for NOT missing stuff like this. Man, it's shocking how far they've fallen in such a short time.
I was amazed to learn that Boeing had made a decision to sub-contract out their fuselage construction operations. When a manufacturing company makes a decision to have another manufacturer build such a critical element and core competency they have allowed the bean counters and purchasing group by some means persuade them that profit margins will be much improved as a result. I have seen this before with much less critical components. The Board of Directors and major shareholders should toss the entire bunch.
 

TIDE-HSV

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I was amazed to learn that Boeing had made a decision to sub-contract out their fuselage construction operations. When a manufacturing company makes a decision to have another manufacturer build such a critical element and core competency they have allowed the bean counters and purchasing group by some means persuade them that profit margins will be much improved as a result. I have seen this before with much less critical components. The Board of Directors and major shareholders should toss the entire bunch.
Actually, that's been the case since 2005. Then Boeing sold off their Wichita plant which was a Boeing subsidiary, and it became Spirit. Spirit is the world's largest first tier contractor for aero frames and primary parts and has many more customers than just Boeing. The fuselages are being built in the same factory as 1941. It should be noted that this is on Boeing, not Spirit. Boeing uninstalled the plug and reinstalled it without replacing four critical bolts...
 

2003TIDE

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Actually, that's been the case since 2005. Then Boeing sold off their Wichita plant which was a Boeing subsidiary, and it became Spirit. Spirit is the world's largest first tier contractor for aero frames and primary parts and has many more customers than just Boeing. The fuselages are being built in the same factory as 1941. It should be noted that this is on Boeing, not Spirit. Boeing uninstalled the plug and reinstalled it without replacing four critical bolts...
That is what I posted a few pages back. Spirit delivers then to spec and Boeing has final say on QC
 

TIDE-HSV

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That is what I posted a few pages back. Spirit delivers then to spec and Boeing has final say on QC
I know you did, but It bears repeating, since many don't read more than a page before replying. However, in this case, Spirit's QC doesn't even come into the question, since Boeing removed the plug and mis-installed it. It's just their little red wagon at this point. Only a little less than a third of their production. 39% is from defense. The rest is "Global Services." However, when you look at revenue, 98 % of their revenue is from the aforesaid "Global Services." That includes just about everything support, maintenance, logistics, you name it. You'll have to go to their page. The two percent is a distortion, since their airplane wing is throwing off huge losses every quarter...
 
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UAH

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Actually, that's been the case since 2005. Then Boeing sold off their Wichita plant which was a Boeing subsidiary, and it became Spirit. Spirit is the world's largest first tier contractor for aero frames and primary parts and has many more customers than just Boeing. The fuselages are being built in the same factory as 1941. It should be noted that this is on Boeing, not Spirit. Boeing uninstalled the plug and reinstalled it without replacing four critical bolts...
I am truly late to the party on that but my real animus toward Boeing developed with the 737 Max software issues that ending in several crashes. My impression was that a decision to not to build in safe guards to eliminate misreadings on the stall indicator was made in order to save a few thousand dollars on the cost of each plane. Obviously if that was the case it was a huge mistake that cost billions in claims and lost sales.

I say this recognizing that Air Bus had significant issues when they introduced fly by wire technology.
 

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