OT: Do you find it nuts that the Boeing built spacecraft has been stuck in space for 50 days?

GloryDawg

Well-known member
Mar 3, 2005
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WTH Boeing. What is nuts, SpaceX has a ship ready to go into space that can bring the Astronauts home, but Boeing is lobbying to give them more time to get their ship home.
 

aTotal360

Well-known member
Nov 12, 2009
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C'mon, man. They got waaayyyy more important initiatives they are working on...
 

T-TownDawgg

Well-known member
Nov 4, 2015
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If you haven’t seen the Boeing doc on Netflix, it explains a lot.

When Boeing so wisely decided to hire all the bean-counting executives from Chicago who ran McDonnald Douglas into bankruptcy, the entire company has since reaped what it’s sown.
 

aTotal360

Well-known member
Nov 12, 2009
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Yep, at least its not a 737 about to fall out of the sky, yet
Last week I was in one that lost an engine just after takeoff. Had to make an emergency landing back at the airport where we came from. Scariest **** of my life. We landed like a ton of bricks. Blew out all 8 of the rear tires. Skidded sideways. Brakes caught on fire. They had fire trucks flanking us upon the landing.

17 these clowns. Fix your planes.
 

Hot Rock

Active member
Jan 2, 2010
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Boeing is going through what I think every company is seeing. Work force issues since Covid. There was a mass exodus of 55-70 year olds from the work force and finding good workers to replace them has been a nightmare.

I am 60 and if I had been a couple years older, my *** would have been retired rather than come back to work full time as well after Covid. People got a taste of not having to come to work everyday and decided they didn't need to work like that any longer as they had found the either had enough or could draw enough to work on the side part time somewhere doing what they like.

10 years ago the average experience of anyone that directly manufactured anything at my facility was about 7.5 years, 20 years ago, it was closer to 12 years of experience. We had tons of 30 year workers on the floor and almost every machine center had at least on 20 year guy on it. Now? The avg exp is less than 3 years with 70 % of employees having less than 5 years of experince. The older guys are in maintenance, or supervision or supporting roles that don't actually make anything.
 

Hot Rock

Active member
Jan 2, 2010
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Getting competent experienced employees is hard. Keeping them, is even harder.
 

stateu1

Well-known member
Mar 21, 2016
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Last week I was in one that lost an engine just after takeoff. Had to make an emergency landing back at the airport where we came from. Scariest **** of my life. We landed like a ton of bricks. Blew out all 8 of the rear tires. Skidded sideways. Brakes caught on fire. They had fire trucks flanking us upon the landing.

17 these clowns. Fix your planes.
Damn! Glad you're ok.
 

Shmuley

Well-known member
Mar 6, 2008
22,291
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Getting competent experienced employees is hard. Keeping them, is even harder.
I wouldn't be caught dead trying to manage a business of any appreciable size whose business model depends on customer service/employee engagement.
 

Irondawg

Active member
Dec 2, 2007
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The workforce experience is two fold. One I think it's true that work ethic in general is on the decline. But companies valuing employees is also down in equal measure as they simply chase profits. There are no more incentives like pensions and such to stay loyal to a company.
 

Dawgbite

Well-known member
Nov 1, 2011
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Getting competent experienced employees is hard. Keeping them, is even harder.
I had already started reevaluating my work life in the year prior to Covid. That seven weeks that we were idle was the final straw for me. It was a big pause that allowed me to realize what’s important and possible. For 30+ years both my wife and I had worked our asses off, nose to the grindstone, without a firm idea of what the end would look like , just working toward the unknown.
 

Dawg1976

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Aug 22, 2012
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Last week I was in one that lost an engine just after takeoff. Had to make an emergency landing back at the airport where we came from. Scariest **** of my life. We landed like a ton of bricks. Blew out all 8 of the rear tires. Skidded sideways. Brakes caught on fire. They had fire trucks flanking us upon the landing.

17 these clowns. Fix your planes.
Yikes. Glad you survived all that. Did you have to change your underwear?
 

Hugh's Burner Phone

Well-known member
Aug 3, 2017
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Thanks. Having my kids and wife next me didn’t make it any better.

edit: I’m trying to upload pics from it but it says file too large.
Right after I thanked the good Lord above for letting me and my family live, I would have made my way to the nearest bathroom where I would have thrown up and then washed out my underwear.
 

johnson86-1

Well-known member
Aug 22, 2012
12,234
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Boeing is going through what I think every company is seeing. Work force issues since Covid. There was a mass exodus of 55-70 year olds from the work force and finding good workers to replace them has been a nightmare.

I am 60 and if I had been a couple years older, my *** would have been retired rather than come back to work full time as well after Covid. People got a taste of not having to come to work everyday and decided they didn't need to work like that any longer as they had found the either had enough or could draw enough to work on the side part time somewhere doing what they like.

10 years ago the average experience of anyone that directly manufactured anything at my facility was about 7.5 years, 20 years ago, it was closer to 12 years of experience. We had tons of 30 year workers on the floor and almost every machine center had at least on 20 year guy on it. Now? The avg exp is less than 3 years with 70 % of employees having less than 5 years of experince. The older guys are in maintenance, or supervision or supporting roles that don't actually make anything.
Boeing is dealing with more than work force issues. They went from being a company focused on world class engineering to a company focused on finance/account to being essentially a lobbying firm with some engineers employed on teh side.

Lots of companies start off being strong in operations and then get run into the ground by accountants and finance guys (Southwest). Boeing's strength in lobbying has delayed a reckoning for them for a long time. If it hadn't been for that, they would have had to fix their business culture well before planes started falling out of the sky.
 

T-TownDawgg

Well-known member
Nov 4, 2015
3,759
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Boeing is going through what I think every company is seeing. Work force issues since Covid. There was a mass exodus of 55-70 year olds from the work force and finding good workers to replace them has been a nightmare.

I am 60 and if I had been a couple years older, my *** would have been retired rather than come back to work full time as well after Covid. People got a taste of not having to come to work everyday and decided they didn't need to work like that any longer as they had found the either had enough or could draw enough to work on the side part time somewhere doing what they like.

10 years ago the average experience of anyone that directly manufactured anything at my facility was about 7.5 years, 20 years ago, it was closer to 12 years of experience. We had tons of 30 year workers on the floor and almost every machine center had at least on 20 year guy on it. Now? The avg exp is less than 3 years with 70 % of employees having less than 5 years of experince. The older guys are in maintenance, or supervision or supporting roles that don't actually make anything.
Not saying you’re wrong, and I always love a good shittting on younguns post, but the problem with Boeing goes back before Covid.

1. Executive pay/bonuses based on quarterly earnings is always a short-term outlook mistake.

2. When said executives minimized QC, downsized QC personnel, recycled outdated parts, knowingly passed questionable inspections, intentionally hid from pilots and the FAA an undisclosed flight control system that cost the lives of many hundreds, and actively punished whistleblowers, AT THAT POINT your argument may scan.

3. While all this bean-counting-shell-game horseshittery was going on and worker morale was tanking, executives were banking millions, and when the CEO was forced out, I think he left with a 28 million dollar bonus.

BOE can go get 17ed with a rusty harpoon as far as I’m concerned. They were tanked by by their own criminal greed, not covid.
 

CochiseCowbell

Well-known member
Oct 29, 2012
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Thanks. Having my kids and wife next me didn’t make it any better.

edit: I’m trying to upload pics from it but it says file too large.
Jeez, your family was with you during that?! Glad y'all are okay. I can't imagine the feeling of futility in those moments.
 

HailStout

Well-known member
Jan 4, 2020
2,299
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Last week I was in one that lost an engine just after takeoff. Had to make an emergency landing back at the airport where we came from. Scariest **** of my life. We landed like a ton of bricks. Blew out all 8 of the rear tires. Skidded sideways. Brakes caught on fire. They had fire trucks flanking us upon the landing.

17 these clowns. Fix your planes.
I would never fly again
 

LOTRGOTDAWGFAN

Active member
May 23, 2022
262
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WTH Boeing. What is nuts, SpaceX has a ship ready to go into space that can bring the Astronauts home, but Boeing is lobbying to give them more time to get their ship home.
"Give us a two weeks notice," they said. "they" lay you off or fire you on the spot without any notice or regard for your life and responsibilities. this is what happens when generations inherit a business and don't earn it: callous indifference.
 

patdog

Well-known member
May 28, 2007
48,349
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What’s nuts was NASA insisted on going forward with the Boeing contract multiple times when it was obvious from the beginning it was a disaster. Honestly, we’re lucky those astronauts are still alive. And if NASA was smart, they’d let Space-X bring them home.
 

Boom Boom

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Sep 29, 2022
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Boeing is dealing with more than work force issues. They went from being a company focused on world class engineering to a company focused on finance/account to being essentially a lobbying firm with some engineers employed on teh side.

Lots of companies start off being strong in operations and then get run into the ground by accountants and finance guys (Southwest). Boeing's strength in lobbying has delayed a reckoning for them for a long time. If it hadn't been for that, they would have had to fix their business culture well before planes started falling out of the sky.
Sort of. They did what nearly every other manufacturing company has done the last couple decades: sacrifice quality to increase margins.

The problem Boeing is having is it gets noticed more when a 737 drops out of the sky then when your new fridge craps out.

The lobbying is mostly irrelevant. That they are in a duopoly with a foreign competitor is not.
 

JackShephard

Active member
Sep 27, 2011
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WTH Boeing. What is nuts, SpaceX has a ship ready to go into space that can bring the Astronauts home, but Boeing is lobbying to give them more time to get their ship home.
I work with Boeing every day. So, no, I don't find it nuts. I find it par for the course.
 

aTotal360

Well-known member
Nov 12, 2009
18,739
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Jeez, your family was with you during that?! Glad y'all are okay. I can't imagine the feeling of futility in those moments.
It all happened somewhat quickly. At least it felt that way. To the captains credit, he did a masterful job of keeping most people calm. I was just trying to stay calm so my kids wouldn’t freak out. My daughter was in tears. My son was watching a movie. My wife was praying. There was definitely an overwhelming flood of emotions.

The thing that pissed me off was during the deboarding process, I got to speak with the pilot. I thanked him for getting us on the ground safely and he was somewhat humble. While we were waiting on the next round of busses to pick us up, he got real loud and said “OH. In case you were wondering, it was a bird strike!” It was somewhat awkward the way he blurted it out with no context. Then it dawned me. He was potentially running coverup for Delta because no one can argue an “act of God”. It also releases Delta/Boeing of some financial liability. The story hit the local newspaper within a few hours and they mention a bird strike or a small animal strike. Then soon after that, another article came out that said inspectors ruled out a bird or animal strike. Shocked I tell you…
 

dudehead

Active member
Jul 9, 2006
1,308
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Getting competent experienced employees is hard. Keeping them, is even harder.
More the reason we need a reasonable immigration bill to bring in talent that wants to work. Screw the workforce aged here that don't want to work.
Gonna be a long time before I do it again.
I have a relative who is a retired pilot that flew for several of the big carriers over the years. He refuses to ever fly again because of the near misses and "almost crashes" he experienced over his career. True to form, he is driving in from TX to our family gathering this weekend at the NCF.
 

Hot Rock

Active member
Jan 2, 2010
1,390
369
83
Not saying you’re wrong, and I always love a good shittting on younguns post, but the problem with Boeing goes back before Covid.

1. Executive pay/bonuses based on quarterly earnings is always a short-term outlook mistake.

2. When said executives minimized QC, downsized QC personnel, recycled outdated parts, knowingly passed questionable inspections, intentionally hid from pilots and the FAA an undisclosed flight control system that cost the lives of many hundreds, and actively punished whistleblowers, AT THAT POINT your argument may scan.

3. While all this bean-counting-shell-game horseshittery was going on and worker morale was tanking, executives were banking millions, and when the CEO was forced out, I think he left with a 28 million dollar bonus.

BOE can go get 17ed with a rusty harpoon as far as I’m concerned. They were tanked by by their own criminal greed, not covid.
young un... Umm, uninformed, ignorant of the subject matter? Yes, Young? Nope. I was alive when JFK was shot
 

TaleofTwoDogs

Well-known member
Jun 1, 2004
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Sort of. They did what nearly every other manufacturing company has done the last couple decades: sacrifice quality to increase
keep margins.

The problem Boeing is having is it gets noticed more when a 737 drops out of the sky then when your new fridge craps out.

The lobbying is mostly irrelevant. That they are in a duopoly with a foreign competitor is not.
FIFY - Manufacturing in the US has been on a downhill path for decades as buyers looked overseas for better savings. Look around, there are abandoned factories everywhere in the US as the economy has transitioned from hard assets to soft. Finance/accounting in American board rooms is seen as a necessary evil not as a powerful force in the board room. The move away from China and back to the US might turn the needle enough to make "made in the USA" worth more than just a marketing jingle.
 

T-TownDawgg

Well-known member
Nov 4, 2015
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young un... Umm, uninformed, ignorant of the subject matter? Yes, Young? Nope. I was alive when JFK was shot
Congratulations.

I was talking about the crappy workforce you referenced, not you.

You must have been the one Secret Service gave binoculars and told to watch the Book Depository
 

Mr. Cook

Well-known member
Nov 4, 2021
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Last week I was in one that lost an engine just after takeoff. Had to make an emergency landing back at the airport where we came from. Scariest **** of my life. We landed like a ton of bricks. Blew out all 8 of the rear tires. Skidded sideways. Brakes caught on fire. They had fire trucks flanking us upon the landing.

17 these clowns. Fix your planes.
That’s why I never fly Southwest. It’s like flying the plane from “Major League”
corbin bernsen starz GIF by American Gods
Airplane GIF by Sony Pictures
 

Pilgrimdawg

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Aug 30, 2018
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From all personal accounts over the last few years and as reported to me by others still in the work force, hiring quality workers today is almost impossible. Recently I decided to roll over the 401K funds from my last employer to the self directed IRA where I had the rest of my retirement funds. I have done it before so I knew that it Should be a simple process, right? Fill out a form, answer a couple of questions, and then wait for a check made out to the new institution. No. First, these people ( The Standard ) are in Portland, so you know it’s about to be a cluster. No one knew how to do anything. A simple process, now completed, took 4 weeks, 8 phone calls involving 8 different people in customer service, 3 of which had almost no command of the English language. The common vibe was that they don’t know and they don’t care. When they did finally send the check, the envelope had the Banks name on it and my home address. Idiots.
 
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Boom Boom

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Sep 29, 2022
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FIFY - Manufacturing in the US has been on a downhill path for decades as buyers looked overseas for better savings. Look around, there are abandoned factories everywhere in the US as the economy has transitioned from hard assets to soft. Finance/accounting in American board rooms is seen as a necessary evil not as a powerful force in the board room. The move away from China and back to the US might turn the needle enough to make "made in the USA" worth more than just a marketing jingle.
Some of both. Some manufacturing companies have seen profit decreases, bankruptcy, etc. Others, like Boeing, have seen massive stock price increases, presumably mostly due to profit margin increases.
 

eckie1

Well-known member
Jun 23, 2007
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Last week I was in one that lost an engine just after takeoff. Had to make an emergency landing back at the airport where we came from. Scariest **** of my life. We landed like a ton of bricks. Blew out all 8 of the rear tires. Skidded sideways. Brakes caught on fire. They had fire trucks flanking us upon the landing.

17 these clowns. Fix your planes.
I was on a work trip throughout Missouri many years ago. We had a lot of puddle jumpers to catch, but the one that left STL (TWA) blew the engine directly beside me right as we were about to take off. Thankfully, we never left the ground and had plenty of room to stop. So many people were freaked out and we hadn’t even gone airborne. Can’t imagine what would’ve happened had we taken off.
 
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