Author Topic: General News From Boeing  (Read 4118 times)

Offline The Big Gimper

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General News From Boeing
« on: April 30, 2020, 09:15:16 PM »
Via Facebook. Posting for information only. Those who are better connected to Boeing feel free to correct. See attached graphic of possible 757MAX designs.

From the FB poster: Boeing threw away the 757 production jigs. BUT restarting the 757 with an existing certification is going to be a whole lot cheaper for a bankrupt airline manufacturer than starting a new model production (Do you hear the chorus of 737MAX?). Say hello to the 757MAX, the 757PLUS or maybe the 767X and 767MAX.

Planemakers slow plans for new jets as they focus on survival

PARIS, April 28 (Reuters) - Planemakers are drastically slowing work on new projects to save cash as they focus on surviving a downturn expected to last well into this decade, industry sources said.

Plane giants Airbus and Boeing are expected to emphasise immediate priorities over long-term plans in financial results on Wednesday, as air travel remains severely disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The fresh approach was trailed by Boeing’s decision to scrap a $4.2 billion tie-up with Brazil’s Embraer, whose engineers had been expected to play a key role in developing the next round of Boeing jets.

"Boeing shelved plans in January to develop a pair of jets to replace the 757 and 767, known as the New Midsized Airplane (NMA) programme, while focusing on getting its grounded 737 MAX back in service.

Since then, Boeing has been looking at distilling the two-aircraft NMA programme into one new 757-style plane, while studying a more modest 767 upgrade, sources said.

That would have laid the groundwork for the future MAX successor, an embryonic project known as Future Small Airplane.

“Everything on NMA, FSA and so on has been stopped for now,” a person familiar with the matter said.

Other projects likely to take a backseat include a previously unreported plan to give the 767 wide-bodied jet a new lease of life with new wings and engines.

Flightglobal reported in October that Boeing was talking to General Electric about a “767-X” with new engines. But people familiar with the matter said Boeing had instead been studying a costlier plan to add new wings as well.

Boeing declined to comment on individual projects, but denied any sweeping halt.

“We’ll continue to look at what the future market will need and invest in research and development,” a spokesman said.

Leeham News analyst Scott Hamilton said in a note the coronavirus crisis would “completely upend” product strategies.

Since Boeing delivered its final passenger 767 in 2014, the model has enjoyed a rebirth as a cargo workhorse and needs modifying to meet 2028 emissions standards.

One insider said the 767 study focused on the plane’s role as a freighter, while others saw a possible passenger role.

A 757 replacement would counter strong sales of the Airbus A321 and allow Boeing to pioneer systems needed in future replacements of all small and medium jets - notably cockpits.

Boeing stopped making the roughly 240-seat 757 in 2004. Any replacement would have slightly more range and seats, with one source nicknaming it “757-Plus”.

At Airbus, work continues on the A321XLR, a long-range addition to its best-selling narrow-body family.

But the company has scrapped a hybrid-electric flight demonstrator it was working on with Rolls-Royce for future “decarbonised” planes called E-Fan-X. And Chief Executive Guillaume Faury is weeding out a rash of eye-catching but non-core projects inherited from his predecessor, insiders say.

Faury has said Airbus remains committed to working on green aircraft of the future but at a slower pace amid the crisis.

Also on the back-burner are confidential studies for freighter versions of A330neo or A350 aircraft, sources said.

“Airbus is always looking at new concepts based on existing platforms but it is really premature to speculate about the scope and timing of future Airbus freighter opportunities,” a spokesman said, declining to comment on specific proposals.

Analysts say Boeing’s 777X upgrade of the 777 mini-jumbo, which first flew in January, could be further delayed due to a slump in demand for widebody aircraft due to the pandemic. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Mark Potter)
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Offline Volkodav

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Re: General News From Boeing
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2020, 09:42:43 PM »
Sound plausible but I'm pretty sure it wont be called -MAX as while they may look down on engineers, the board idolises marketers.

Offline jcf

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Re: General News From Boeing
« Reply #2 on: May 01, 2020, 12:28:16 AM »
That 757Max and 757Plus shit is somebody's fantasy.  ;D

I suggest they go back and read about the market ins and outs that led to the
misbegotten 737Max stretch, it's all about seating capacity and the 757-200
was considered too large, which is why it lost market all those years ago. The
757-300 was even larger, that said a shorter 757-100 configuration would have
been in the sweet-spot as far as current market seat numbers are concerned,
well in the pre-Covid seat numbers competition that is.   
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Offline The Big Gimper

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Re: General News From Boeing
« Reply #3 on: December 02, 2023, 06:44:53 AM »
Oww!!!!!

Allo Airbus?  Avez-vous des Airbus A380 inutilisés ?

Exclusive: Boeing eliminated from US Air Force's 'Doomsday Plane' competition

WASHINGTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force has eliminated Boeing (BA.N) from its competition to develop a successor to the E-4B Nightwatch, Boeing confirmed on Friday, shaking up the battle to build the next version of the aircraft known as the "Doomsday Plane" due to its ability to survive a nuclear war.

The move leaves privately-held defense contractor Sierra Nevada Corp as the lone company publicly vying for the Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) contract to eventually replace a fleet that has been in use since the 1970s.

The Air Force, which plans to award a SAOC contract in 2024, declined to comment on whether other firms had submitted bids.

"We cannot discuss an active source selection and detailed program information is classified," an Air Force spokesperson said.

Two sources familiar with the situation said Boeing - the incumbent manufacturer of the E-4B - and the Air Force were unable to come to an agreement on data rights and contract terms, with the U.S. planemaker refusing to sign onto any fixed-price agreement that locks it into paying costs above an agreed limit.

Full story here: https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/boeing-eliminated-us-air-forces-doomsday-plane-competition-2023-12-01/

« Last Edit: December 02, 2023, 07:18:30 AM by The Big Gimper »
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Offline elmayerle

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Re: General News From Boeing
« Reply #4 on: December 02, 2023, 03:13:13 PM »
Oww!!!!!

Allo Airbus?  Avez-vous des Airbus A380 inutilisés ?

Exclusive: Boeing eliminated from US Air Force's 'Doomsday Plane' competition

WASHINGTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force has eliminated Boeing (BA.N) from its competition to develop a successor to the E-4B Nightwatch, Boeing confirmed on Friday, shaking up the battle to build the next version of the aircraft known as the "Doomsday Plane" due to its ability to survive a nuclear war.

The move leaves privately-held defense contractor Sierra Nevada Corp as the lone company publicly vying for the Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) contract to eventually replace a fleet that has been in use since the 1970s.

The Air Force, which plans to award a SAOC contract in 2024, declined to comment on whether other firms had submitted bids.

"We cannot discuss an active source selection and detailed program information is classified," an Air Force spokesperson said.

Two sources familiar with the situation said Boeing - the incumbent manufacturer of the E-4B - and the Air Force were unable to come to an agreement on data rights and contract terms, with the U.S. planemaker refusing to sign onto any fixed-price agreement that locks it into paying costs above an agreed limit.

Full story here: https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/boeing-eliminated-us-air-forces-doomsday-plane-competition-2023-12-01/


I wonder if the USAF is going with a fixed firm price contract after obwerving all of Boeing's recent stumbles.  I know I'd be much more wary of them in the USF's position.

Offline Gingie

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Re: General News From Boeing
« Reply #5 on: December 05, 2023, 02:53:47 AM »
SNC may well buy a Boeing product and upgrade it...they have a 747 image on their web page. Most of their real world experience on large aircraft is C-130 related.

Hmm...E-17? Given what they can do to a Herc below, I guess a C-17 would not be impossible? C-17 certainly has an abundance of power, and unlike Airbus, c'est faire en etas unies. 

SNC:Large Aircraft Modification Experience
Avionics Modernization (Cockpit, ADS-B, IFF, GPS, etc.)
Combat System Operator design and integration
KC-130T Radar Replacement
KC-130J Harvest HAWK+ Mission System Design and Integration 
AC-130J Side Heads-Up Display Integration
MC-130J Airborne Mission Networking
AC/MC-130J Radio Frequency Countermeasures 
AC-130 Gunship Mission System Design and Integration 
AC-130 Side Heads-Up Display Integration 
Combat System Operator design and integration 
MC-130J Airborne Mission Networking Design 
AC/MC-130J Radio Frequency Countermeasures 
KC-130 Harvest HAWK+ Mission System Design & Integration
Wing Station Hard Point Design and Certification 

Picture from SNC web page attached

Offline The Big Gimper

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Re: General News From Boeing
« Reply #6 on: December 05, 2023, 05:43:49 AM »
That would make more sense.

Good luck dealing with Boeing and getting them to sign a fixed price contract.   :icon_fsm:

Note to SNC: If the Boeing employee notes on their resume that they worked on the Boeing Starliner, red line them.  ;D
« Last Edit: December 05, 2023, 05:45:32 AM by The Big Gimper »
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Offline The Big Gimper

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Re: General News From Boeing
« Reply #7 on: January 25, 2024, 09:14:28 PM »
A detailed report on the dearly departed 737 MAX-9 door by Jon Ostrower @jonostrower

We have reconstructed the 127 days that elapsed between final assembly of N704AL and the January 5 accident aboard Alaska Flight 1282. TAC has confirmed many of the details in the purported whistleblower account, as well as added considerable new facts.

https://theaircurrent.com/aviation-safety/127-days-the-anatomy-of-a-boeing-quality-failure/
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Offline Frank3k

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Re: General News From Boeing
« Reply #8 on: January 26, 2024, 12:45:40 AM »
After reading the article, I wonder if Tupolev has better quality control than the current Boeing...

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: General News From Boeing
« Reply #9 on: January 26, 2024, 01:38:47 AM »
I wonder if the underlying root cause has anything to do with the loss of skilled technicians?  I remember visiting there and talking with Boeing people years ago and they (like many in industry) were struggling as many highly skilled technicians, engineers etc were coming to retirement and they were struggling to get good quality people in sufficient numbers to backfill.
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Offline Kerick

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Re: General News From Boeing
« Reply #10 on: January 26, 2024, 01:34:23 PM »
I heard Boing let go a bunch assembly line inspectors before the junk in the KC-46 fiasco because they didn’t add value to the product. If that attitude still holds it’s absolutely stupid and will destroy the company.

Offline raafif

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Re: General News From Boeing
« Reply #11 on: January 26, 2024, 02:13:17 PM »
Only 127 days in service before accident ?  Quality control problems indeed.

Former Qantas chief engineer I worked with said that the 747s he certified at Boeing, Seattle in the 70's had all sorts of stuff (pens, tools, swarf, etc) left in the belly when paint was applied over it all.
He found nothing wrong at Airbus.