Efrem

No injuries, but 346 fatalities in the Lion Air 737 Max crash in October 2018 and the Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crash in March 2019. I wouldn't call that "minimal."

However, it was engineering leadership that came up with the Sonic Cruiser - a triumph of useless technology that, predictably, nobody wanted. The airlines all asked the question that was obvious from the get-go: "If you can go 15% faster with the same fuel consumption as today's planes, how much fuel could you save if you didn't go any faster?" The answer was, of course, the 787 - but that fiasco detour, which cost Boeing at least two years in getting the 787 out and gave Airbus breathing room that it utilized to good effect with its A-350 family, was the beginning of the end for its "engineering first" culture. Sad, but they brought it down on themselves.

moondog

I haven't posted to this thread until now because I didn't fancy auto subscribing to yet another Boeing pile on. But, I am curious as to why the discussion has seemingly overlooked the mysterious "suicide" by the whistle blower who was due to testify before Congress. To me, that sort of thing is more troubling than wheels (who needs those things, anyway?) falling off planes. Is the whistle blower death incorrectly reported and/or overblown?

nk15

It is probably discussed in one of the other Boeing threads, the main one from which I have unsubscribed from and now I cannot find it....

LapLap

I don’t see how someone like John, who went through so much to have his concerns recognised, would bail out just at the point he is finally being heard.

hiker67

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun and slew of executives to step down amid safety crisis
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/bus...sis-rcna144882

Wilbur

The fact that Boeing now has their HQ in Arlington, Virginia tells you everything you need to know about the corporate culture, and why all of those execs had to go.

Podcat

There is no “luck,” horrific or otherwise.
Only preparation or lack of it.

Boeing now represents the latter.

behuman

Indeed the 747 was (and still is) an engineering masterpiece. Now I wonder why any airline still buys their crap from the narrow 737 to the noisy 777 or the nasty A 350 brother, the unlucky "dream"liner.

And if only Airbus remains and the prices go up ? Why not ? Less flying will not be the end of the world.

To answer the title of the thread: I am certainly more relaxed on a nice A32X neo, a silent A330 neo or a sleek and elegant A 350 than on any Boeing plane (except the 747 / 800) and will actively choose airlines with mostly or only Airbus fleets.

Davvidd

The Neo is not as good or trouble free as some think it is. The bigger issue is that Boeing quality went down. The 747, the 757 and even the 767 were very good aircrafts. Then they decide to bring out the 787 when it was not ready to compete with the 350 and that's when things started going downhill. Boeing also failed to understand or underestimated the marketing down by Airbus. Boeing only wanted huge big orders while Airbus was very happy to facilitate leasing agreements with small airlines all over the world.

dodgeflyer

? The a350 was launched four years after the 787 and if I recall correctly, the 787 was marred by production delays (and indeed the launch 787 was a ‘dud’) whilst A350 was the oversized response to the 787 and delivered largely to time.

nk15

You jinxed it...

Davvidd

Sorry the 330 and not 350.

nk15

United Airlines Boeing 777 Forced to Make Emergency Landing in Rome After Passengers See Streak of Flames From Engine (paddleyourownkanoo.com)

YVR Cockroach

The 330 predated the 787 by quite a while (even if the 787 had come into service as originally scheduled) - just looked it up, entry into service in 1994 vs. 2011. The 330 was already eating Boeing's lunch in the mid '90s as it could carry more (extra) cargo freight than the 767 which was Boeing only offering (a friend in the aircraft leasing biz told me it was analysed very thoroughly). Remember that the A330 was the intended shorter-range twin-engine twin to the A340 (-200 & -300). The ultimate (relative) failure of the A340 project was offset by engines for the A330 which made it a very viable competitor. Sharing major components with the A340 (fuselage, wing, presumably avionic systems) didn't hurt.

YVR Cockroach

IIRC, the Sonic Cruiser was a red herring. The 787 was in equal stages of development (i.e., not very advanced) as the Sonic Cruiser. I had forgotten the 787 was initially called the 7E7.