How production pressures plunged Boeing into yet another crisis
In October, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun was asked how fast Boeing could raise output of its best-selling 737 MAX after a spate of quality snags. He was upbeat: Boeing would get back to 38 jets a month and was "anxious to build from there as fast as we can." As he sought to reassure investors about the recovery of Boeing's cash cow after another quarterly loss, one of the narrow-bodied jets was waiting at Boeing Field in Seattle for final tests and delivery to Alaska Airlines just six days later. Four critical bolts were missing. How a modern jetliner left Boeing's nearby Renton factory with a loose door panel, setting the clock ticking on a terrifying mid-air blowout on Jan. 5, has triggered soul-searching about quality controls and plunged Boeing into its second safety crisis in five years. Regulators have suspended Boeing's plans to ramp up 737 output and Calhoun now says it's time to "go slow to go fast", casting doubt on the shape of its recovery from back-to-back crises - first over two MAX crashes that killed 346 people and then the pandemic - which left it $38b in debt. Interviews with a dozen current and former industry executives suggest it was the pressure to produce coupled with an exodus of experienced workers that contributed to a slow-rolling industrial train wreck, ending with 171 passengers staring out of a gaping hole at 16,000 feet. "It looks like Boeing has been more focused on investing in ramping up into higher production rates than taking its quality system to the next level," said manufacturing expert Kevin Michaels, managing director of aerospace consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory in Michigan. Story has more.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2024-02-12/general/how-production-pressures-plunged-boeing-into-yet-another-crisis
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How production pressures plunged Boeing into yet another crisis
In October, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun was asked how fast Boeing could raise output of its best-selling 737 MAX after a spate of quality snags. He was upbeat: Boeing would get back to 38 jets a month and was "anxious to build from there as fast as we can." As he sought to reassure investors about the recovery of Boeing's cash cow after another quarterly loss, one of the narrow-bodied jets was waiting at Boeing Field in Seattle for final tests and delivery to Alaska Airlines just six days later. Four critical bolts were missing. How a modern jetliner left Boeing's nearby Renton factory with a loose door panel, setting the clock ticking on a terrifying mid-air blowout on Jan. 5, has triggered soul-searching about quality controls and plunged Boeing into its second safety crisis in five years. Regulators have suspended Boeing's plans to ramp up 737 output and Calhoun now says it's time to "go slow to go fast", casting doubt on the shape of its recovery from back-to-back crises - first over two MAX crashes that killed 346 people and then the pandemic - which left it $38b in debt. Interviews with a dozen current and former industry executives suggest it was the pressure to produce coupled with an exodus of experienced workers that contributed to a slow-rolling industrial train wreck, ending with 171 passengers staring out of a gaping hole at 16,000 feet. "It looks like Boeing has been more focused on investing in ramping up into higher production rates than taking its quality system to the next level," said manufacturing expert Kevin Michaels, managing director of aerospace consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory in Michigan. Story has more.<br/>
