I love how hard parts of HN falls into the never 737 hysteria, even though its less probable than dying from the nearest sharp object.
Boeing's upgraded 737 Max completes first flight with media onboard
31–40 of 290 posts
Re: Boeing's upgraded 737 Max completes first flight with media onboard
#32Maybe they should have bit the bullet and fully redesigned the 737. Presumably future engines will be bigger still, will they just tack them onto this old design as well? At the end of the day this is just a software fix.
> Maybe they should have bit the bullet and fully redesigned the 737.
If I were the EU regulator, I would have forced them to... It's a great way to screw over Boeing (American) and boost sales for Airbus (EU), while having the fairly legit rationale that you no longer have confidence in the US regulator due to a long series of blunders, and you are not happy for a major new plane design to use a decades old type rating (and is therefore missing now-mandatory safety stuff).
Re: Boeing's upgraded 737 Max completes first flight with media onboard
#33"In another display of confidence, European budget airline Ryanair was set to place a hefty order for up to 75 additional 737 MAX jets, industry sources said." A Ryanair spokesperson said "It's the first time we've ever been offered a discount in excess of 100%"
[deleted]
Re: Boeing's upgraded 737 Max completes first flight with media onboard
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think I disagree. If they’d taken the time to scrap the 737 Max and move to a new design, they’d have had the time and the public would have eaten the new product up. Instead, they doubled down and are now going to try to have to sell a product that many will refuse to ever fly on, myself included.
The original 737 had some early issues also. Tail rudder problems that resulted in crashes is one that comes to mind. They were fixed and now nobody thinks twice about flying them and their long-term safety record is excellent.
Tail rudder problems is putting it mildly. There was malfunction with a valve that would cause the rudder to move in the opposite direction of the control inputs.
Re: Boeing's upgraded 737 Max completes first flight with media onboard
#35Given the recent news about delivery services (UPS, Fedex, Amazon) having constraints on capacity this would be a great time for them to invest in some planes. I assume Boeing is desperate to sell these. Or is there something about these planes that makes them unsuitable.
They'd have to be retrofitted to be capable of loading and unloading cargo similarly to typical air freighters. The standard passenger entry/exit portals are not big enough to move large pallets on the plane.
[deleted]
Re: Boeing's upgraded 737 Max completes first flight with media onboard
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think I disagree. If they’d taken the time to scrap the 737 Max and move to a new design, they’d have had the time and the public would have eaten the new product up. Instead, they doubled down and are now going to try to have to sell a product that many will refuse to ever fly on, myself included.
The original 737 had some early issues also. Tail rudder problems that resulted in crashes is one that comes to mind. They were fixed and now nobody thinks twice about flying them and their long-term safety record is excellent.
In that case maybe I'll give it 50 years to develop the same safety record.
Re: Boeing's upgraded 737 Max completes first flight with media onboard
#37Given the recent news about delivery services (UPS, Fedex, Amazon) having constraints on capacity this would be a great time for them to invest in some planes. I assume Boeing is desperate to sell these. Or is there something about these planes that makes them unsuitable.
>I assume Boeing is desperate to sell these. Or is there something about these planes that makes them unsuitable. It's not like Boeing has a warehouse of 737-MAX's sitting around. They are ordered and delivered as they are finished.
https://komonews.com/news/nation-world/boeing-gets-good-and-...
They do have a bunch sitting around. So much they had to hire people to care for them.
Re: Boeing's upgraded 737 Max completes first flight with media onboard
#38Given the recent news about delivery services (UPS, Fedex, Amazon) having constraints on capacity this would be a great time for them to invest in some planes. I assume Boeing is desperate to sell these. Or is there something about these planes that makes them unsuitable.
[deleted]
Re: Boeing's upgraded 737 Max completes first flight with media onboard
#39In a weird way, having the Max grounded during 2020 turned out to be lucky timing on Boeing's part. The airlines slowdown due to COVID likely gave them some serious breathing room while they got their shit together. Now hopefully they actually did get their shit together.
Not just timing, but COVID is a great diversion from the safety issue entirely (in the eyes of the public)
Anyone walking onto an aircraft today is thinking "I hope I don't get a virus" instead of "I hope my plane doesn't crash".
Re: Boeing's upgraded 737 Max completes first flight with media onboard
#40Given the recent news about delivery services (UPS, Fedex, Amazon) having constraints on capacity this would be a great time for them to invest in some planes. I assume Boeing is desperate to sell these. Or is there something about these planes that makes them unsuitable.
I think they are impractical as freighters. They are narrow bodies and won't hold standard freight containers.
The economics are obviously different from a 747 or 767 but Boeing sells (converted) 737s as freighters [1]. Alaska Airlines also operates some combined passenger/freight 737s on routes in Alaska that can't fill a 737 entirely with either. Admittedly neither of these are MAX variants but the potential seems to be there.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737#Boeing_Converted_Fr...