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“I worked at Boeing for about 1.5 years in the 2008-9 time period”

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Re: “I worked at Boeing for about 1.5 years in the 2008-9 time period”

#251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked at a similar large aerospace contractor just in the past couple years. I can attest 100% to what you've said. They estimated they would need to replace 40% of their workforce within the next 10 years just to stay afloat. Recently at my old site they hired 1000 people. Within a year, 800 had quit. These are software engineers, mechanical engineers, etc. I watched people just play on their phones, keep their f…

This is kind of why SpaceX is so efficient. That kind of dead wood doesn't really exist there, plus their actual aerospace/mechanical engineers are cream of the crop from the best universities.

They also have a mission (Mars) that transcends everything.

Re: “I worked at Boeing for about 1.5 years in the 2008-9 time period”

#252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A slightly different event, but when Embraer accused Bombardier of being illegally subsidized by the Canadian government, Bombardier said "no u" and made the same accusations against Embraer. IIRC both companies ended up getting fined

Wasn't Embraer bought by Boeing?

Boeing has a marketing partnership w/ Embraer, but may have a hard time getting the Brazillian government to let go of it.

Re: “I worked at Boeing for about 1.5 years in the 2008-9 time period”

#253

Its interesting how an unknown source making unverifiable claims on a site which is basically a rumor mill gets so much attention.

this happens all the time on reddit and it definitely worries me a bit. People post what is, for all I know, complete fiction and people seemingly take it as fact. Point out that it could be made up and watch those downvotes fly...

It's almost a creative writing contest in some threads. The problem is that just enough situations are verifiable that it blurs into the well written fictional accounts. I spend time on r/BestOfLegalAdvice sub and I have no doubt that upwards of ~25% of posts are fake.

Re: “I worked at Boeing for about 1.5 years in the 2008-9 time period”

#254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really old, and the main problem is that it's avionics are old, and don't have the same level of electromechanical flexibility that new planes. Think of the difference between slapping IoT / real-time monitoring capabilities onto an old factory process versus building from the ground up with those capabilities kept in mind. Obsoletion happens when there is a better alternative available, and there are plenty of…

> It's really old The design has been iterated and improved many times. The field of aviation is very conservative. What's old is generally what works . New designs are prohibitively expensive. The 787 won't be profitable for some time, even a decade after it was launched. > it's avionics are old They're brand new. Where do you think they get them for brand new planes ? >versus building from the ground up with those…

If you look at it, Boeing has put improved technology in all of the other planes it makes, just not the 737. For instance they have retrofitted the 747 with fly-by-wire.

Fly-by-wire offers huge avionics benefits, reduces weight, fuel consumption, etc.

Planes with fly-by-wire also have inertial measurement units that contribute to envelope protection so they would have another input to work from rather than just the AoA vanes.

Re: “I worked at Boeing for about 1.5 years in the 2008-9 time period”

#255
Most big government/military contractors are absolute shitshows because they get too much money and it's not very competitive.

Instead of having a good product or even marketing, they just bribe congress to have a gargantuan budget and somehow they always wind up getting a big chunk of it.

They should all be broken up as they're stifling the planet.

Re: “I worked at Boeing for about 1.5 years in the 2008-9 time period”

#256
post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How come we end up with ineffective duopolies? Why isn't market competition finding a way around these failing companies?

In rockets, we have SpaceX. Commercial aviation has a higher regulatory barrier for entry, both in technical knowledge and facilities. You don't just spin up a gigantic, cavernous assembly line with thousands of technicians and billions of dollars in tooling overnight. I wouldn't be surprised if in 10-20 years though, someone backed by Google tried building a self-piloted, subsonic blended-wing-body 200-300 pax jetli…

If "be google" is the barrier to entry, then the entire concept of competition in the free market is a lie.

Re: “I worked at Boeing for about 1.5 years in the 2008-9 time period”

#257

I'm currently working at Boeing, and had a very similar experience to him getting onboarded as a contractor on a major project. Just as an example, I'm going to outline the steps it took to get me a proper badge 1. Filled out badge request form and gave it to my manager who gave it to the person who would be my manager at boeing 2. 4 months later have to refill out form because they lost it 3. 1.5 months later I rece…

> Old, sad white men

Would it be better if they were old, sad black men?

Re: “I worked at Boeing for about 1.5 years in the 2008-9 time period”

#258

Interesting. I was hanging out at a wedding with someone right around that time frame who was one of the lead engineers on the 787 rollout. He too had similar comments about safety. He told us that the 787 was failing it's FAA tests, but since the head of Boeing's relationship with the FAA was a former FAA tester, he "helped" the FAA rewrite the tests so that the 787 would pass. I told him he may want to consider bei…

The difference is that driving is mostly under your control, while flying is not.

Re: “I worked at Boeing for about 1.5 years in the 2008-9 time period”

#259
post #125

I contracted with a branch of Lockheed. While I couldn't/shouldn't talk about any of the technology involved, I can attest to the culture I witnessed. I always assumed it was horrible because of the government affiliation. But I think that mostly affected their focus, in that most of the branch was dedicated to wasting money so they could ask for more money. However, the culture itself was stagnate by design. Most of…

I've worked on both excellent teams and dysfunctional teams doing contract work for the government. The distinction to be made is size and longevity of the programs involved. For various reasons, large long lasting programs have accumulated rules that prevent anyone from doing anything productive.

I've seen teams of people working on a flash app to produce a handful of reports for one general, who would look at it occasionally, or not at all. There are guys who work there entire careers to maintain this one small, outdated application.

Re: “I worked at Boeing for about 1.5 years in the 2008-9 time period”

#260
post #174
post #125

I contracted with a branch of Lockheed. While I couldn't/shouldn't talk about any of the technology involved, I can attest to the culture I witnessed. I always assumed it was horrible because of the government affiliation. But I think that mostly affected their focus, in that most of the branch was dedicated to wasting money so they could ask for more money. However, the culture itself was stagnate by design. Most of…

How come we end up with ineffective duopolies? Why isn't market competition finding a way around these failing companies?

What market competition? Airlines are possibly more regulated than medicine!
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