This is one of your best recent articles. It never fails; Corp greed for more profit at any cost. You paint one of the most explicit pictures of what plagues many American companies today. They will virtually destroy a country to squeeze out another investor dividend. The covid factor is also on full display here.
That 1995 KIRO TV story I linked to shows that Boeing knew it had to change its culture and business model. The merger certainly accelerated that effort. None of that means that safety is not nor should not be a priority.
Excellent analysis, Mr. K. I agree with you, though I know there could also be many other problems. Some still point to the moving of Boeing's corporate hq to Chicago, leaving the "association of engineers" in Seattle, and hammering at them from afar. Some simply point to the lack of jet diversity and how the 737 airframe became the "one size fits all" answer to all the airlines' needs--from the 700 series to the 900 series, and now, at least possibly, the 737-10 Max, which has yet to be realized in any fundamental way. One thing is certain and that is Kirby's comment that Boeing needs a culture shift is spot on.
I think there are several other issues as well.. but I think those are the big ones. On the move to Chicago, I remember a Boeing employee telling me the Condit didn’t want to face to face engineers or machinists walking down 6th Ave in Seattle. The union battles were brutal back then.
This is one of your best recent articles. It never fails; Corp greed for more profit at any cost. You paint one of the most explicit pictures of what plagues many American companies today. They will virtually destroy a country to squeeze out another investor dividend. The covid factor is also on full display here.
Great story. What’s the statute of limitations on blaming the merger?
That 1995 KIRO TV story I linked to shows that Boeing knew it had to change its culture and business model. The merger certainly accelerated that effort. None of that means that safety is not nor should not be a priority.
Excellent analysis, Mr. K. I agree with you, though I know there could also be many other problems. Some still point to the moving of Boeing's corporate hq to Chicago, leaving the "association of engineers" in Seattle, and hammering at them from afar. Some simply point to the lack of jet diversity and how the 737 airframe became the "one size fits all" answer to all the airlines' needs--from the 700 series to the 900 series, and now, at least possibly, the 737-10 Max, which has yet to be realized in any fundamental way. One thing is certain and that is Kirby's comment that Boeing needs a culture shift is spot on.
I think there are several other issues as well.. but I think those are the big ones. On the move to Chicago, I remember a Boeing employee telling me the Condit didn’t want to face to face engineers or machinists walking down 6th Ave in Seattle. The union battles were brutal back then.
"that Condit"
I’ll never forget the time we were doing a story on the Gary Condit scandal, and the control room threw up a picture of Phil Condit. Oops.