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posted by martyb on Tuesday December 17 2019, @08:01PM   Printer-friendly
from the Stop-the-Bleeding dept.

https://www.npr.org/2019/12/17/788775642/boeing-will-temporarily-stop-making-its-737-max-jetliners

Production will stop in January. The jets were grounded after two crashes that killed nearly 350 people. Despite being grounded, Boeing continued cranking the planes out at its factory near Seattle.

(The interview had more good information, but at time of submission, the transcript wasn't available. There may be better articles out there.)

There are. Here's one:

Boeing will suspend 737 Max production in January at CNBC:

Boeing is planning to suspend production of its beleaguered 737 Max planes next month, the company said Monday, a drastic step after the Federal Aviation Administration said its review of the planes would continue into next year, dashing the manufacturer's forecast.

Boeing's decision to temporarily shut down production, made after months of a cash-draining global grounding of its best-selling aircraft, worsens one of the most severe crises in the history of the century-old manufacturer. It is ramping up pressure on CEO Dennis Muilenburg, whom the board stripped of his chairmanship in October as the crisis wore on.

The measure is set to ripple through the aerospace giant's supply chain and broader economy. It also presents further problems for airlines, which have lost hundreds of millions of dollars and canceled thousands of flights without the fuel-efficient planes in their fleets.

Boeing said it does not plan to lay off or furlough workers at the Renton, Washington, factory where the 737 Max is produced during the production pause. Some of the 12,000 workers there will be temporarily reassigned.

Previously:


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by barbara hudson on Tuesday December 17 2019, @09:13PM (18 children)

    by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Tuesday December 17 2019, @09:13PM (#933412) Journal
    The employee parking lot is jammed with a years worth of undeliverable jets. If you're a customer, you're going to refuse to take something that's been sitting around for a year. It's no longer factory-new.

    The tires will have flat spots, hydraulic lines need to be purged of old lube and all seals checked to make sure that they're still flexible, etc. As long as it was supposed to be delivered this year, it was considered as sold inventory on the books. Not any more. This is going to mess up their accounting. Airlines are going to refuse to take old stock unless given sizeable discounts - and they are going to want their pound of flesh for losses from Boeing's screwups.

    How long until KKR or some other vulture fund comes in with an offer to buy it and break it up? After this, the civil aviation business is a drag on their defence and space businesses.

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  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday December 17 2019, @09:28PM

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 17 2019, @09:28PM (#933420) Journal

    If you're a customer, you're going to refuse to take something that's been sitting around for a year. It's no longer factory-new.

    It will end up being longer than a year.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
  • (Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Tuesday December 17 2019, @09:33PM (11 children)

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Tuesday December 17 2019, @09:33PM (#933424) Homepage

    The only way I'd ride in one is if they were converted to standard 737's, or at the very least use a smaller engine so that the nacelles could be scooted back where they belong. They could probably sell all of those LEAP engines to a competitor (according to the Wikipedia Airbus and another manufacturer also use them) as spares.

    Would probably hinder performance and efficiency while adding safety, would be a damn shame to let those shiny new airframes go to waste. But yeah, if they want to salvage the situation they're gonna have to redesign that bitch and re-name it something else. I wonder how easily they could be converted to 797s?

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Tuesday December 17 2019, @09:48PM (1 child)

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 17 2019, @09:48PM (#933433) Journal

      The only way I'd ride in one is if they were converted to standard 737's, or at the very least use a smaller engine so that the nacelles could be scooted back where they belong.

      Well, if you are prepared to pay, it can be arranged. So... how many retrofitted planes you said you want to buy? (grin)

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      • (Score: 2) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Wednesday December 18 2019, @05:32AM

        by fido_dogstoyevsky (131) <axehandleNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Wednesday December 18 2019, @05:32AM (#933609)

        Well, if you are prepared to pay, it can be arranged. So... how many retrofitted planes you said you want to buy? (grin)

        Parked aircraft burn money just sitting still. I'll probably put in an expression of interest when they get to offering $US1M with each airframe...

        --
        It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Tuesday December 17 2019, @09:52PM (4 children)

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 17 2019, @09:52PM (#933436) Journal

      Move the wings from the side of fuselage to the top. Cool fashion statement AND gives plenty of room to hang even bigger engines! No special software needed. Engineers can be found who will sign off. Marketing can communicate how much safer the new design is because you can't bang your head on the wings when walking under to test if it is possible to get sucked into new engines. Landing gear tires can now be white wall or rainbow stripe. Cockpit upgrade to Windows 10. All set.

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
      • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday December 17 2019, @11:31PM (3 children)

        by Freeman (732) on Tuesday December 17 2019, @11:31PM (#933478) Journal

        I hope and pray that no cockpit has windows 10 as it's main operating system. The thought is truly horrifying.

        --
        Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
        • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday December 18 2019, @04:20PM (2 children)

          by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday December 18 2019, @04:20PM (#933765) Journal

          Stick with XP which is "mature".

          --
          People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
          • (Score: 1) by DECbot on Wednesday December 18 2019, @07:19PM (1 child)

            by DECbot (832) on Wednesday December 18 2019, @07:19PM (#933865) Journal

            I think you spelled 'manure' wrong.

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            • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday December 18 2019, @10:53PM

              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday December 18 2019, @10:53PM (#933963) Journal
              Let's call it "riper". XP is definitely riper.
    • (Score: 5, Funny) by Bot on Tuesday December 17 2019, @09:55PM

      by Bot (3902) on Tuesday December 17 2019, @09:55PM (#933440) Journal

      You can convert them to 787, as the 3 can be painted into an 8 quite easily.

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    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 18 2019, @01:28AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 18 2019, @01:28AM (#933516)

      Just mount the engines on top of the wings. ;)

      • (Score: 2) by deimtee on Wednesday December 18 2019, @04:51AM

        by deimtee (3272) on Wednesday December 18 2019, @04:51AM (#933600) Journal

        No, you'd ruin the balance. Put one on top and one underneath so it all evens out.

        --
        If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
    • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Wednesday December 18 2019, @06:32PM

      by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Wednesday December 18 2019, @06:32PM (#933822) Journal

      I would very happily fly in one today. Because there ain't a 737 pilot who hasn't heard of the issue now and the situation is readily understood (unexpected loss of altitude with no other discernable cause) and therefore employ the temporary solution they had to fix the issue (wasn't it pull a breaker to disable the stabilizer trim, therefore cutting the ability of MCAS to control? More than one source has said the runaway stabilizer checklist cures the problem, anyway.) That said, making them go back and touch base for safety isn't a bad idea at all.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 17 2019, @09:54PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 17 2019, @09:54PM (#933439)

    The employee parking lot is jammed with a years worth of undeliverable jets. If you're a customer, you're going to refuse to take something that's been sitting around for a year. It's no longer factory-new.

    The tires will have flat spots, hydraulic lines need to be purged of old lube and all seals checked to make sure that they're still flexible, etc. ...

    Airplanes aren't like cars, and airliners aren't like people. When you buy a plane, you aren't just buying a plane, you are buying a relationship. There is warranty, ongoing Operations and Maintenance work, and everything. If Boeing says the plane is good to use, then the airline is going to accept that; especially because if it doesn't work, Boeing is on the hook to fix it.

    If your shiny new iPhone had a huge scratch on the back, people would complain and return it. If an industrial combine harvester had a big scratch along the side, the farm is going to shrug and say "that's annoying, oh well." Airlines are closer to the later than the former.

    At worst, the airlines will have a few more contracts specifying exactly how much Boeing is assuring that the plane will work, and what they will pay back if it doesn't. (Excepting the recent damage to Boeing reputation, etc, etc, etc... that's a "don't trust Boeing" thing, though, not a "these aren't factory new planes" thing.)

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by barbara hudson on Wednesday December 18 2019, @12:56AM

      by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Wednesday December 18 2019, @12:56AM (#933507) Journal
      When you buy anything you're buying a relationship. Boeing customers bought a bad relationship, including an airplane that doesn't have a normal center of gravity (hence the need for MCAS in the first place). It's a defective design. They pushed the design envelope too far, their fancy gimmick shit itself and killed hundreds of people.

      Oh well, back to the drawing board. Wonder how much of a hit they'll take for scrapping the entire run when customers say "we're canceling and suing ".

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      SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
    • (Score: 2) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Wednesday December 18 2019, @05:37AM

      by fido_dogstoyevsky (131) <axehandleNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Wednesday December 18 2019, @05:37AM (#933613)

      ...If Boeing says the plane is good to use, then the airline is going to accept that; especially because if it doesn't work, Boeing is on the hook to fix it...

      Boeing DID say it was good to use, and the airlines DID accept it. The amount of wriggling going on just says the hook (a) isn't big enough, and (b) hasn't been used enough times.

      --
      It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
  • (Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday December 17 2019, @09:57PM (1 child)

    by Bot (3902) on Tuesday December 17 2019, @09:57PM (#933444) Journal

    Ummm but isn't a plane basically rebuilt after x hours of use as it undergoes deep checks repairs and whatever? or was it only the good ol days?

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    • (Score: 2) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Wednesday December 18 2019, @05:44AM

      by fido_dogstoyevsky (131) <axehandleNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Wednesday December 18 2019, @05:44AM (#933615)

      Ummm but isn't a plane basically rebuilt after x hours of use as it undergoes deep checks repairs and whatever? or was it only the good ol days?

      Still goes on, but it costs a bit more than a car service...

      --
      It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.