Posted on 12/19/2010 8:27:52 AM PST by buzzer
That’s not even the worst of it. The olympics were the deadline for the Chinese carriers, the first customers were due planes by the 2nd half of 2007.. Hence the 7/08/07 “rollout”. The first deliveries were due to trickle in after that. By this measure, the program is already 3 years late even if they start delivering tomorrow. I’m not a Boeing basher, and I’m a big fan of the 787, but the way things have turned out...just damn. Having worked indirectly with Boeing over the years (and Scott Fancher, mentioned in the article, being our program manager at one point, so I’m familiar with him), I can see the truth in the comments below that article. I remember having to cross a picket line every day during that 2005 strike, but the union is only part of the problem. Boeing couldn’t wait to get rid of Spirit in Wichita, but now they’re the better performers in the 787 chain and now Boeing absorbed the poorly performing SC plant.
Mulally left in Fall ‘06 just 9 months before the first slide was announced. So he had to have known at least some of the issues that were starting to bubble up.
I'm glad you brought up Spirit. That too was another stupid decision, a slight boost to one quarters earnings and then you just put a major part of your company outside the gate.
Once upon a time (1990s), Sundstrand Aerospace hired former GE CEO Harry Stonecipher. After several years at the helm, Stonecipher moved on to run McDonnell-Douglas in St. Louis. Harry arranged the sale of MD to Boeing, where he hired-on as a very senior VP. Harry was promoted to CEO. When he reached mandatory retirement age, he left after naming a hand-picked successor. However, the successor didn't work out that well and the Boeing Board of Directors persuaded Harry to come back on a temporary basis.
When Harry was CEO (first time), he did not like the long flight from Boeing HQ in Renton, WA to Chicago, IL to visit his daughter. Ergo, Harry persuaded the Boeing BoD to move company HQ to Chicago, IL so he could be closer to his daughter.
When Harry was CEO (second time), he made a major mistake of carrying on a steamy affair with a 45-year old female VP (he was 66 at the time). Mrs. Stonecipher got world of Harry's philandering and filed for divorce. The Boeing BoD asked Harry to step down and the female VP was fired. Both Harry and his mistress were divorced by their spouses. In Harry's case, the ex-Mrs. Stonecipher got 50 percent of Harry's property, pension and all his perks as an ex-CEO. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
Thanks for the insights. I didn’t know all the palace intrigue about the decision to move HQ to Chi. It always struck me as odd moving HQ away from the major operating location in Seattle.
Try building a F1 car without the knowledge that has led up to the step below.
The team that built Apollo was led by men like Von Braun, who was imported from the German WW2 missile program. Do you seriously think it could have been done without them?
The young whiz kids did a lot of it, but they were led by OLD pioneers.
Still wrong.
The Labor Union mantra:
“We want what we want, regardless of what is actually possible, and even if that means we screw the company, losing $billions and losing jobs...”
Boeing and the Union are hoping that Obami will show up with a truck full of Obama-buck$ to bail them out too...
Unions will be the death of this nation.
Hey Boeing, how is all that global outsourcing working out for you?
It always struck me as odd moving HQ away from the major operating location in Seattle.
You’re not the only one.
Try Boeing management.
It used to be that those who ran Boeing's factories were long time employees who came up through the ranks. When I worked there, the guy who ran the Everett plant had started as a riveter. I was one of about 2500 engineers who worked for him.
Now - 5 will get you 10 it's MBAs (Master BS Artists).
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