Boeing again delays the 777X – the plane that's supposed to turn things around
- Reference: 1728883932
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/10/14/boeing_layoffs_delays/
- Source link:
The bad news came in a Friday [1]message from CEO Kelly Ortberg that revealed the 777X won't reach customers until 2026 – after its planned 2020 debut had already been pushed back to 2022, and then again to 2025.
"The challenges we have faced in development, as well as from the flight test pause and ongoing work stoppage, will delay our program timeline," Ortberg wrote.
[2]
That's very unwelcome news, as the 777X is in demand – indeed, some airlines are upset it's late as they've had to keep flying older or less efficient aircraft while they wait for it – and has been seen as providing Boeing with a fillip once it's certified to fly and starts rolling down the production runway and into service.
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The many delays to the plane cost committed customers plenty, and erode trust in Boeing's passenger aviation business. Sentiment towards that biz is already strained, as the US aerospace mainstay has struggled to deliver planes on time. That's not to mention well-documented safety issues with the [5]737 and [6]allegations its 787 also has quality problems.
The extra delay also means Boeing won't see as much cash from the widebodies – money it could use, after development costs went far beyond planned spending.
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Another decision Ortberg announced is the end of manufacturing for the 767 freighter in 2027, once existing orders have been fulfilled. The KC-46A Tanker, built on the same airframe, will continue. This decision leaves Boeing without a midsize freighter.
[8]Boeing union workers in US reject contract: 96% vote to strike
[9]Boeing's Q2 nosedive buoyed by appointment of new CEO
[10]Boeing might be criminally prosecuted for 737 MAX crashes after all, says DoJ
[11]Another Boeing whistleblower comes forward – with receipts
Both decisions will benefit arch-rival Airbus. the European plane-maker offers its A350 and A330 as dedicated freighters, and will convert its other models (other than the A380) from passenger to freight operations.
Speaking of the A350, it in theory competes with the 777X – and now has another year or so without a rival.
Ortberg also warned, with regard to Boeing's Defense, Space and Security (BDS) business, "performance on fixed-price development programs is simply not where it needs to be.
"We expect substantial new losses in BDS this quarter, driven by the work stoppage on commercial derivatives, continued program challenges and our decision to complete production on the 767 freighter."
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The likely lack of new interest in the [13]buggy Starliner space capsule won't help, either.
The messes outlined above mean Ortberg has decided to reduce headcount by ten percent – or around 17,000 workers – "to reset our workforce levels to align with our financial reality and to a more focused set of priorities."
Boeing staff are already [14]striking for better pay and conditions. Ortberg's two mentions of "stoppages" are clear indications the strikes are hurting the business – and now its workers. ®
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[1] https://boeing.mediaroom.com/2024-10-11-Boeing-CEO-Message-to-Employees-on-Positioning-for-the-Future
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Zwzrxkx1tDYrMVKhYc5c8wAAAQQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zwzrxkx1tDYrMVKhYc5c8wAAAQQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Zwzrxkx1tDYrMVKhYc5c8wAAAQQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/08/boeing_guilty_fraud_charge/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/17/boeing_whistleblower_fuselage_gaps/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zwzrxkx1tDYrMVKhYc5c8wAAAQQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/13/boeing_hit_by_strike_action/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/31/boeing_q2_2024/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/15/boeing_might_be_criminally_prosecuted/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/24/boeing_whistleblower_q1_2024/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Zwzrxkx1tDYrMVKhYc5c8wAAAQQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/07/boeing_starliner_returns/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/13/boeing_hit_by_strike_action/
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: The CEO is a genius!
He's supposed to have an engineering background but it looks like the MBAs got to him.
Re: The CEO is a genius!
Time to put engineers back in charge of all the various departments and have the bean counters forced to sit at the back of the room and STFU.
Re: The CEO is a genius!
Could reduce the number of bean counters instead. Surely they are the best people to see just how much that would save the company, no?
I'm amazed they're not already packing.
Re: The CEO is a genius!
That will never happen.
It's always a bean counter who remains to turn the lights off.
Call me unrefined, but I fail to see how firing 10% of the workforce will help with timely deliveries and a lack of attention to quality and safety.
Just shows we're not CEO material.
He might as well say to Airbus
Here you go. Have it all.
Perhaps RyanAir will reconsider their move back to Boeing if their orders are pushed back to say... 2035 or beyond?
Boeing has huge issues. one of those is re-absorbing 'Spirit Aviation' that builds all the 737 airframes. Quality control seems to have been made redundant by the bean counters.
Never mind. If Trump wins in Nov, then he'll levy 200% (or more) tariffs on all Airbus models even those built in Alabama which he'll use a sharpie and put in Mexico.
The US is doomed if he wins which seems likely at the moment.
I was similarly non-plussed. Clearly I lack the fine business acumen required to run a business that's too big to fail, right up to the point when it turns out failure actually is an option.
The beatings will continue until morale improves.
The problem ....
Well there's not just one problem. There's a bunch. But two stand out.
1. Boeing doesn't seem to have that much product on their cart that anyone wants to buy. And the thing people might want to buy is several years from starting production. (which will take quite a while to ramp up BTW). If they don't have and don't expect to have the orders, they don't need the people to produce the products they won't be making.
2. The US economy is quietly resetting after a decade of easy money and easy credit. Boeing is far from the only company retrenching. Despite improbable promises from politicians, it's likely that some decline will continue, airline travel will fall off, and orders to aircraft makers in general for new aircraft will decline. Probable economic sloth in hardly a situation unique to Boeing or the US in general. China is, if anything, in worse shape.
Terminated staff are only non-union, of course
I saw somewhere that the staff being terminated for financial gain are all "non-represented", which I understand to mean non-union. No comment....
Re: Terminated staff are only non-union, of course
Well, it basically shows that unless you have folk to argue with the employer on behalf of a larger group you are... "loved" (using the lookup table created by teh alte Ronald Saveloy the Apologetic, T.Pratchett, Interesting Times). Being represented helps, obviously. This is why we have unions (and quite strong ones in Germany, France and Scandinavia).
Re: Terminated staff are only non-union, of course
dang, too late for edits...
I of course intended to write "the late Ronald Saveloy"... now, how many mistakes in in this post? Muphry's Law and all... ---> I would need a coffee, but there's no such icon.
Re: Terminated staff are only non-union, of course
To quote from my dear sister's sociology text book "Trade Unions are organisations formed by workers to maximise bargaining power" . No wonder the captains of industry are so against them.
Re: Terminated staff are only non-union, of course
This is why we have unions (and quite strong ones in Germany, France and Scandinavia).
Given the state of the economy in the first two of those, I'm not sure that's anything to boast about.
I predict pay cheques there to go "Boeing boing boing" as they bounce any day now...
Forget space if you can't even keep a door secured on Earth
See title.
The fact this company still exists is a fucking joke. You can get away with maybe 1 totally preventable incident. But when it becomes 2, 3... more? Nah.
Re: Forget space if you can't even keep a door secured on Earth
I suspect it is kept alive by lucrative military contracts - so a few more wars should see Boeing return to rude health.
"The challenges we have faced in development"
Yeah, like making sure the engines are properly placed, the doors don't fly off mid-flight, the pilots actually know what they can do and the plane can actually take off and do it.
Big challenges for a company that has completely lost the plot.
I'm guessing that this is not going to be the last reschedule . . .
The Boeing End Game ...
... will be similar to the US automobile industry twenty years ago. Bankruptcy followed by a bailout and government receivership until it gets back on its feet. Then return it to the MBA finance bean counters, and repeat the cycle all over again.
Monopoly?
Is Airbus about to become a monopoly, or are their any viable alternatives to Boeing on the horizon?
Lockheed? Embrarer? Bombardier? What's the Chinese aviation industry up to? Is India developing anything?
The CEO is a genius!
Everything is delayed because of problems in the aircraft? Fire 10 thousand people so that the remaining can achieve even less, working too many hours and finally striking because of low pay and how they are treated.
This plan cannot fail, he's a Trump-like genius!!!