Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing doc on Netflix

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Then the management types and bean counters took over.

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The only delays for 777X so far (that seem to be brought up in online articles) seem like engineering problems (doors blowing out, uncommanded pitch events, etc.) I would love to blame non engineering management for the delays to date, but the data that is easy to find seems to indicate otherwise.

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Then the management types and bean counters took over.

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McNerney was a disciple of Jack Welch. That style works in some industries but probably not in aerospace.

I'll need to read up on the 777x. It sounds like 737 with the doors blowing out in flight and pitch movements.
The pitching was a definite issue with the 737max and caused a couple of crashes. That was the basis of the documentary, I think it was "Downfall" on Netflix.

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McNerney was a disciple of Jack Welch. That style works in some industries but probably not in aerospace.

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Didnt' work for GE either. Of course it looked great for a while but when it came time for new generations of product they came within inches of sinking their own ship. GE tries to pay on net 120 terms these days and that's after they demand HUGE price cuts up front. The worst managed company I've ever done business with.

The real ugly part is that many private equity companies seem to think it's a good talent farm, so when they do these rollups, the hire some GE pukes to run them. It's not going well for many in my industry. They buy up a bunch of competitors, roll them together, slash benefits, stretch payables out 60-90 days, try to squeeze the old owner out of his earnouts, then bulk up the backlogs with razor thin margins, and flip it. Rinse and repeat.

31 years as a Quality Eng in Aerospace. If it is Boeing, I am not going.

In fact, I do not fly anywhere anymore unless an absolute emergency.

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The engineers are told to get the most out of it using the cheapest way possible. It’s only a matter of time before something major happens.

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Bean counters and execs also look at engineers as plug and play. A senior guy goes somewhere else, they don't understand the knowledge and experience that just walked out or retired.
Not only are they losing somebody that has a ton of knowledge but they are losing somebody that can help bring up the younger ones and educate them. HR really doesn't try at retention of mid level engineers and sometime upper level either. They just say to themselves we will just hire another keyboard monkey. Not understanding they aren't legos to remove and replace.
I can tell you from experience in the industry, it takes 5 yrs before your are somewhat competent of a airframe stress analyst. Understanding how load paths work in complex structure, building finite element models and best practices for modeling, etc etc.

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They interviewed people working on the line and asked them if they would take a trip on a Boeing plane, and they said no.

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I mean you can literally do this with any manufacturer, people hate their jobs everywhere.

I thought the whole angle of planes being made unsafe because it wasn’t done with union labor was a bit over dramatic. They definitely hit their talking points.

That really wasn't the point. Yes, they avoided using union labor by building a facility in South Carolina. The problem is there's no aerospace industry in SC and they hired every tom dick and Harry that could spell their name. The experience and expertise was back in Washington.