MidAtlantic

Boeing fires CEO Dennis Muilenburg. The only surprise is that this has taken so long.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/23/boei...ax-crisis.html

dave_j

Guess he knows a few secrets. Interesting to see what his exit package is, perhaps they'll give him his own personal 737MAX to keep in his garage because he won't dare fly in it.

scrubbedexpat091

I am not too confident in who they chose as the replacement, he doesn't appear to have any real aerospace back ground beyond sitting on the board of directors and has a degree in accounting, that is what ultimately led to this mess which started before Mullenburg took the helm, bean counters with no aerospace experience should not be in charge of a large aerospace company.

But this could also just be a temporary appointment in a way to guide the company through the mess, a transitional type CEO.

The grounding is estimated to cause a 0.4% reduction in U.S. gross domestic product. Looks like the Secretary of Transportation is willing to intervene with any pressures the FAA may face to speed the process up.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-b...-idUSKBN1YO2G3

Ryan Air has chosen the stance of we are not going to tell passengers what kind of airplane they are on, and will not refund customers who refuse to fly the MAX once it's back in service.

I will be interested to see how US airlines handle the aircraft type once its in the air again, previously some noted it has 737-MAX or some variation of that and it stood out, my guess is at least one US airline will go the route of using less obvious code, 738 is what most use for the 737-800 NG, so wont be surprised if 737-8 pops up for the MAX version, or 7M8 which is more obvious but as obvious at MAX in the name.

Once in the air if the plane can go over 2 years without an accident, I will consider flying it, but until then, I will stick to airlines who don't have any like Delta, 0 chance of getting a MAX when the airline has none.

scrubbedexpat091

Do keep in mind as well that Dennis Muilenburg wasn't in command of the company during the MAX approval and initial design decisions, but the new CEO was on the board when the MAX was given the green light and is an accountant bean counter like McNerney was who was the CEO when the MAX decision was made.

Dennis Muilenburg was career Boeing, and had extensive background in what you want in a CEO of an aerospace company, but he made his mistakes though with the MAX fiasco after the first accident, and his PR blunders, but it's not fair to put the entire issues onto him, he wasn't the one who was in charge during the development and decision to move forward with the MAX, I almost wonder if he had been in charge during that time frame if things might have turned out better in the end, the MAX may not even exist in its current form.

Seems Boeing is reverting back now to putting accountants in charge, they didn't learn their lesson it seems.

dave_j

This has become a Boeing thread... it's putting Boeing under the spotlight and stories that would normally not bubble to the surface become the sort of 'Can't they get anything right?' story.
That below is one such that has one shaking the head...
https://simpleflying.com/qatar-airwa...ack-to-the-us/

scrubbedexpat091

Doesn't appear to be anything Boeing forgot to do. The Qsuites are not yet ready and this has been known since October, Boeing doesn't build nor design the Qsuites, doesn't appear this has anything to do with Boeing, now why the planes were flown to Qatar to fly back to the US where the interiors will be installed is interesting, but could be something to do with export/import/tax laws,.

https://onemileatatime.com/qatar-air...7-victorville/

https://onemileatatime.com/qatar-air...-9-deliveries/

dave_j

Or.. could it be that Boeing wanted to call these 'delivered' and collect the cash?

scrubbedexpat091

Yes, Boeing likely wants the revenue for these aircraft and wanted the revenue for 2019.

I just don't see the need to criticize Boeing for this when the issue in why the interiors are delayed are because the outside vendor Qatar chose is the one delaying the interiors, nothing to do with Boeing, appears everything within Boeing's control was completed, and Boeing should be paid, why should Boeing take a revenue hit because Qatar's vendor of the interiors didn't deliver on time?

dave_j

I agree. More information suggests that Boeing got fed up with having 787s around waiting and needed to boost year end delivery figures. Seems to be down to Qatar and them liking a Qsuite that needed redesign to fit a narrower aircraft body and this took more time than Boeing could handle... probably needed space to park 737MAXs and I wonder if new CEO had a hand pushing this.

scrubbedexpat091

Might give some indication of what larger 737 operators might get compensation wise from Boeing.

Turkish Airlines and Boeing have reached an agreement, and according to sources it's valued at 225 million, 150 million in compensation for losses and 75 million to cover repairs and training.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-b...-idUSKBN1YZ0A4

My guess of the US airlines, Southwest will end up with the most compensation being the largest US customer and I still think they are still operate more 737's than any other airline so I am sure Boeing will want to keep them happy.

MidAtlantic

Ryanair say they may not get their 737 MAXs until October. It is difficult to see how Boeing can manage the fall-out when major loyal customers are treated like this.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-b...-idUSKBN1Z20GB

magnumpi

66 Canadians dead after 737 crash in Iran. Older plane no MCAS I believe

caretaker

Employee communications about the Max 8 have been released by Boeing, and they're not very complimentary.
'In other emails and instant messages, employees spoke of their frustration with the company's culture, complaining about the drive to find the cheapest suppliers and "impossible schedules."'
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/boe...ages-1.5421816

dave_j

It Stinks.
"Boeing denied former CEO Dennis Muilenburg severance when he was ousted for his handling of the 737 Max crisis, but he will get more than $60 million in pension benefits and stock, the company said Friday."

scrubbedexpat091

Pension I can understand, he was with Boeing since 1985.

Bet he regrets taking the CEO position.