Changes at Boeing | Page 8 | FerrariChat

Changes at Boeing

Discussion in 'Aviation Chat' started by Bob Parks, Oct 11, 2019.

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  1. Bob Parks

    Bob Parks F1 Veteran
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    Absolutely!!
     
  2. Bob Parks

    Bob Parks F1 Veteran
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    Jim, you triggered an incident that has remained with me for 68 years. I was working on the last upgrade to the KC-97, the KC-97G and two engineering groups were in a Mexican Standoff when they were running some of the plumbing and wiring through the floor beams in the main fuselage. Neither would give for the other and the schedule was dragging and taking the rest of the work with it. One morning, the VP of Engineering, Wellwood Beal, showed up and entered the mock up airplane. " I want two mechanics" !, he announced. When they arrived in the next 30 seconds, Beal asked what size was the plumbing that would be run through the beams. They told him and he grabbed one of the mechanics and began to point, " I want a 1.00" hole here and then you align them for the rest of the run through the structure. He grabbed the other mechanic and told him to drill the holes to match the wiring, "Here, here, and over here! Do it that way for the rest of the run!" before he left, he gave orders to have the lead engineers from the two contesting groups to see him in his office immediately. Yep. stuff runs downhill. There was an example active management and being attached to and aware of what was going on and making certain that your subordinates were fully aware of how you wanted your operation to run. I saw this all the time on the 747 program .
     
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  3. furmano

    furmano Three Time F1 World Champ
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    THIS.

    -F
     
  4. furmano

    furmano Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Glad to see Haley go, irrespective of what I think about the government "bailing out" companies.

    Hope it's start of an evolution of the board from people with no engineering, manufacturing, or aviation backgrounds, to people who do have experience in those areas.

    -F
     
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  5. Jeff Kennedy

    Jeff Kennedy F1 Veteran
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    To a degree it is hard to argue with your thought but in the case of a company like Boeing where large portions of their business come from international airlines (some owned by the government or with great government influence) and from domestic and foreign military sales a case can be made for having "connected" people. These are the ones where their phone calls are quickly returned and meetings get scheduled. It may not be how we wish things were but it is a reality although the quantity of how many one needs is open for consideration.

    What I might find a more compelling argument is having a board that is challenging the decision process of the company to ensure that the unintended consequences are recognized and that there is a long term focus not 3 months at a time.
     
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  6. furmano

    furmano Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Boeing needs people who have international stroke, that is true.

    But at this point in time, the Boeing culture must swing back to a product driven culture.

    The Board is separate from the operations of the company but also, culture comes from the top, so the Board should take the lead in that regard.

    -F
     
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  7. albkid

    albkid Formula Junior

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    Bob:

    Thank you for your invitation and kind words. Aside from the Boeing stories, I have also been fascinated reading the stories on military aircraft and the exploits of the pilots. I will continue to monitor the thread for my continuing education.

    Regards,

    Jim
     
  8. Bob Parks

    Bob Parks F1 Veteran
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    I don't know if you know that I wrote a book that's on the best Cellar's list (sic). " From A Crystal Set To High Speed Jets." A bit of military airplane stuff in it and some other things that might be interesting.
     
  9. albkid

    albkid Formula Junior

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    Bob:

    If the reference in your book title is a crystal radio, I built one as a boy. A tissue paper roll wrapped in thin wire with a piece of tin as a slider, a capacitor made from a multi-layer sandwich of aluminum foil and plastic, and a piece of galena and whisker wire as a diode. With a set of cheap headphones and an antenna wire dropped out my window, I used to listen to WGN-AM from Chicago at night before bed. At the time, they had a radio show called the Silver Dollar Survey of 60s music.

    I'll look into your book. Thank you for the heads up.

    Jim
     
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  10. Gatorrari

    Gatorrari F1 World Champ
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    If nowhere else, Bob's book is on this forum's best seller list, and deservedly so!
     
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  11. Bob Parks

    Bob Parks F1 Veteran
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    You guessed it, Jim. Our first radio was a crystal set that my brother put together in 1929, I think. Used to listen to it at night on the back porch where we slept.
     
  12. Tcar

    Tcar F1 Rookie

    I built a crystal set also, in the 50's. It was a Boy Scout merit badge project. Worked fine.

    It' a great book!
     
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  13. Bob Parks

    Bob Parks F1 Veteran
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    The radio stations in Washington, D.C. at that time were WMAL. WWDC, WORL. I think that's correct.
     
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  14. Gatorrari

    Gatorrari F1 World Champ
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    You might find it interesting that WSB, the main news/talk station here in Atlanta, is actually an abbreviation for "Welcome South, Brother!" (or so I've been told).
     
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  15. Bob Parks

    Bob Parks F1 Veteran
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    Correction. It was WOL, not WORL. WDC instead of WWDC. In the late 30's we used to listen to Arthur Godfrey on one of these stations, Maybe WMAL. I used to see him flying his T-Craft on floats on the Potomac River.
     
  16. albkid

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    My first job was with the FCC. I had access to all the coverage plots of radio stations -- e.g., 50 kW clear channel stations -- and the engineering files going all the way back to their initial facility engineering. Fascinating reading. Learning how the radio and TV (my office) business developed was important history when I was asked to participate in updating rules and regulations.
     
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  17. Gatorrari

    Gatorrari F1 World Champ
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    You know the old stations because they're the ones with the three-letter codes. The most unusual one to me is KYW in Philadelphia, since all the other stations that I know of with K codes are west of the Mississippi!
     
  18. Texas Forever

    Texas Forever Seven Time F1 World Champ
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    Sorry to end this trip down memory lane, but looking at the bigger picture, it is possible air travel’s day in the sun is over? When teleconferencing takes over, and it will, what will happen to business travel?


    Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
     
  19. Jeff Kennedy

    Jeff Kennedy F1 Veteran
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    Maybe there will be some change to using teleconferencing but I still expect that there will remain a large quantity of dealing where face-to-face interaction and on-site reviews are the standard. I do not see cultivating relationships and the resulting trust coming about with teleconferencing.
     
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  20. Texas Forever

    Texas Forever Seven Time F1 World Champ
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    It is happening now. Had a client who was pressured into a FTF in India. But when India cancelled all visas, he had to do a video conference at 3:00 am. Because the big mucky mucks in India skipped, the participants were those who actually did the work. The meeting was very productive.

    Let’s compare:

    Door number one: Spend over $15,000 and fly for three days for a six hour meeting or,

    Door number two: Get up early for a 3:00 am meeting.

    I know which door I’m picking. You?


    Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
     
  21. Gatorrari

    Gatorrari F1 World Champ
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    At least after the 3 AM meeting, you can go back to bed for a few hours!
     
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  22. Gatorrari

    Gatorrari F1 World Champ
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    There will obviously be some sort of drop, which will make economical narrow-bodies the airliners of choice. Hence it is imperative that Boeing get the 737 MAX (or whatever they're going to call it) back in the air ASAP!
     
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  23. Jeff Kennedy

    Jeff Kennedy F1 Veteran
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    Two different aviation industry article today that I read.

    One was mentioning has Airbus admitting a number of their clients are talking about rescheduling their orders. Especially on the wide bodies which pre-virus was already showing weakness.

    Second article was about Emirates parking their fleets and suspending most airline operations. The cargo side is still going and they continue to make repatriation flights. Apparently all the A380s have been parked.

    A week go had something from a charter operator telling how they have had a major surge of flights, especially long haul. Some were repatriation flights but others were business being done to avoid use of the airlines. An additional point made was that some of the companies that own the aircraft are going back to Part 91 (private use) without doing charters. This is telling since it means that those companies want to reduce the risks of who is and isn't on board and where the aircraft might be. Whether this is a short term situation with companies or sets a long term adjustment in attitude is going to be interesting. If long term, more owned aircraft with a far smaller pool of aircraft available for charter along with a potential perception change for even the fractional programs.
     
  24. Jeff Kennedy

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    To a degree that was already happening especially with the upcoming A321XLR. Might this mean that 757s stop being retired and kept in service? Another thought is if it brings back the 44 seat all business class BBJs and ACJs like Swiss and Lufthansa used to have operated for them by PrivatAir?

    Maybe we will see fewer of the long non-stops that could only be done with large wide bodies or more airlines get interested in the shorter bodied version.

    Some of these answers are going to come down to how fast the resumption of semi-normal takes.
     
  25. albkid

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    If I was still flying as a business traveler, but could now accomplish my responsibilities via the net, I would opt for the net.

    Today, when I travel for pleasure, there is no pleasure.

    If tele-conferencing proves that the same work can be successfully accomplished via video instead of on-site visits, I would imagine that corporations will shift to it to cut travel expense. This period of time is a forced experiment in tele-conferencing, and I imagine there will be a significant degree of post-corona analysis of its effectiveness on productivity.
     
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