I don’t think that there is any kind of precedent for the current situation where an Aircraft that the industry was expecting to be produced at just under two per day just stops. It takes 5-7 years to get to this point from the start of a new development so there is no credible alternative but to find a way through this. The other guys cannot ramp up to fill the gap so airlines will have to operate older types for longer, some start ups won’t start and lessors with A320s or NGs on their books will be very happy.

IAG has been opportunistic but it is a fair bet that the Aircraft will be certified before BA needs them or needs a plan B.

It is not good that this new issue has come out after flight test but flight simulators can stress systems/equipment in different ways to Manufacturer’s test environments, as I learned in a former life, and it is not unknown for new issues to be uncovered but rarely are these showstoppers.

The problem is they can never actually “fix” the Max, it doesn’t fly correctly without the need for software to keep it safely within the necessary parameters.

and regarding IAG’ decision to buy them I am waiting for the press release where they confirm it was a customer driven enhancement......”we asked our loyal customers and valued BAEC members and they overwhelmingly told us to buy a plane that has been grounded across the globe and deemed too dangerous to fly, we look forward to welcoming our customers aboard this death trap as soon as the US Government has assisted Boeing with the necessary cover up and gagged the FAA”

there isn’t currently a suitable engine for the 757; in some regards there never was, but it didn’t matter so much in the past.

The A320 series is designed to be unstable, and requires software to, using your terminology, correct for this.

Shame but I suppose you are correct. They were amazing takeoffs from LHR -MAN circa 1984. But looking at that abomination of massive engines on a weird looking version of a 737 makes me think that surely the 757 would have been a better candidate other than selling Southwest and other big 737 operators a plane that didn't require a re- certify for their pilots. Hopefully this is the end of the line for the 737

All aircraft are designed for specific missions, and within that are complex sets of compromises, where every design choice that improves something, makes other things worse. The explosion of air travel in the 35 years since you blasted down the runway at Heathrow has been made possible by cheap tickets, most passengers fly for what is, from an historical perspective, astonishingly little, and this has happened through periods of significant fuel cost rises.

Few of the commentators on this board would be flying today if ticket prices, adjusted for inflation, were at the same level as when you enjoyed that sprightly take-off in 1984. Don’t get me wrong, the harmonics of an RB211 as it spools up to take-off power, and the sawtooth buzz cuts in, is something I will miss when the last BA 747 retires, but that day is inevitable. Better is not an absolute concept, today we fly more efficiently and more safely than ever before, who wants to argue that is worse?

Refused doesn’t quite describe it, commercial entities have priorities and limited capital. Engines producing around 40,000lbf are a relatively niche market, for now anyway.

I always thought that the 757 was massively overpowered. It makes for a heck of a takeoff on a short runway