wouldn't they just reuse their software on their new models? There's no way they are going to rewrite their software from scratch.
Boeing has temporarily stopped making 737 Max airplanes
61–70 of 165 posts
Re: Boeing has temporarily stopped making 737 Max airplanes
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, I imagine the rebranding will be as ineffective as Comcast rebranding as Xfinity, where everyone knows they are the same.
Yea it is hilarious how Comcast thinks rebranding to xfinity etc is going to help. To be fair to them, the internet service mostly has been excellent where I live. The issue is the predatory pricing/cost and ever decreasing TV channels for existing customers.
Having worked there during the rebranding, a big part of it was more to drive clarity around the business units (think Alphabet vs Google, only in reverse). "Comcast" refers to the overall holding company over the cable business, media business and stadium / real estate holdings.
They referred to the cable business as "Comcast Cable" for a while before rebranding it to Xfinity. The public rebranding was definitely intentional, but it wasn't the only reason behind it.
Re: Boeing has temporarily stopped making 737 Max airplanes
#63According to the article Boeing has halted production, but this leaves the door open to producing them again in the future after design updates. I predict they'll try to rename the model and fly it again after making changes and certifying. That being said, I never want to fly on a 737 Max or whatever they plan to rebrand it as.
> That being said, I never want to fly on a 737 Max or whatever they plan to rebrand it as. Self admittedly, I don't fly as frequently as I used to, but do they still put the model of plane you're flying on anywhere on the ticket? How can someone go about making sure you're not flying on this specific model?
It might turn out to be a competitive advantage for the booking site, who might then highlight "not a max" in the process.
Re: Boeing has temporarily stopped making 737 Max airplanes
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, I imagine the rebranding will be as ineffective as Comcast rebranding as Xfinity, where everyone knows they are the same.
I don't know what you're talking about, Comcast has had amazing support the last few months in my area. We even had a rep come to our house, and leave a handwritten note on the door when we didn't answer, asking if we had any questions or concerns and to give them a call if there was anything they could do for us. ... I'm sure this has nothing to do with the city fiber to the home buildout that is going on in our nei…
My Comcast connection is rock solid. Except when it rains. And I live in Oregon.
Re: Boeing has temporarily stopped making 737 Max airplanes
#65Warning: CNN has autoplaying video with sound enabled.
Use a better browser
Re: Boeing has temporarily stopped making 737 Max airplanes
#66What is the cost to restart both the supply chain and production line? If this lasts long enough, then there are portions of the supply chain that will start to simply disappear as vendors go under or switch away to different customers and de-prioritize Boeing. It isn't just the monetary cost to re-calibrate machining and tooling, also the staff time and monetary cost to fill in gaps that appeared during the shutdown…
> If Boeing was forward-looking, then they would bite the bullet and keep production going, but use the downtime to crawl through every aspect of production to look for and fix any quality and safety-related concerns on the line (including absolute bottom-up authority for production line escalating concerns through to engineering and design) and in the supply chain. Where would they put them? These things ain't small…
Good point. IMHO the company's survival is on the line, and the storage opex expense is worth it if it takes dropping production rate to 1% (about 0.6 737 MAX per month) or less to find out what other quality problems are lurking outside of the design realm, and catch technical debt that they would regret later. This is far preferable to writing off the entire product, and would be a concrete start to re-establishing the old company culture's emphasis upon quality. They're under a regulatory and compliance microscope now, and any production problems when they restart are going to get a lot of negative attention.
They're tapping more debt and still plan on issuing dividends. Those dividends are likely going to be accompanied by equity buybacks. Those buybacks are measured in billions [1]. Carve out from the buyback funds what it costs to ensure quality where they can control it while waiting for clearance to reassure regulators, politicians and the general public, and tell the investors that it is either hold on with the team until quality is re-established within the culture, sell and come back later, or eventually zero out the investment because no one wants to buy from a plane manufacturer with suspect quality.
[1] https://articles2.marketrealist.com/2019/06/boeing-enhances-...
Re: Boeing has temporarily stopped making 737 Max airplanes
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just look on FlightAware or similar. They've all got the historical record for a given route (though of course it's possible an airline might substitute after you've bought the ticket, it's unlikely; most flights fit a specific profile and most airlines have only a couple of models to fit that profile). The major users from North American airlines are Southwest (34 planes), Air Canada (24), American (24), United (14)…
I strongly doubt the overwhelming majority of consumers are going to cross reference booking details against an external site to avoid a specific plane unless there are planes falling out of the air on a daily basis. People may say they will, but in practice they'll look up the cheapest flight and book that, as usual.
Depends on how prominently the information is displayed, and the price difference.
If I can see the plane type in the list of available flights, and the difference is $15 on a $250 ticket I would choose the non Max flight, all else being equal.
Re: Boeing has temporarily stopped making 737 Max airplanes
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
But Windows 7 was just Windows Vista with some relatively minor changes and it was fine. The problem with the 737 MAX is that Boeing tried to make a plane with a completely different airframe and added a bunch of software to try to make it fly exactly like second generation 737s so that pilots didn't need to retrain. But the abstraction was leaky and it turns out that when you have a different airframe, you have to r…
Windows Me was probably a better example but not everyone will remember it. Anyhow, the point is that scrutinizing a bad architecture doesn't make it any better. Scrutinizing a chicken won't make it an eagle.
I worked at a help desk when Windows ME came out. As I recall, the most salient difference I found between it and XP was that they removed a bunch of tools that I had come to rely on for diagnosis, troubleshooting, and just generally understanding what was going on under the hood. I guess it was ostensibly better, but I never did feel as comfortable working with an ME box.
With that in mind, yeah, Windows ME sounds like a pretty great analogy.
Re: Boeing has temporarily stopped making 737 Max airplanes
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would restarting Chernobyl make it the safest NPP considering the amount of scrutiny that it would be put through? Maybe we should look into re-introducing Windows Vista, considering the scrutiny that it would require it must be the safest and most stable OS ever.
No, that reactor had an inherent instability that could not be fixed. The MCAS has an issue with redundant AOA sensors; that specifically needs to be fixed. The MCAS caused problems on other flights, but the pilots knew to disable it by flipping the circuit breaker. The pilots on the crashed planes did not know to disable it. That is a training issue. Fix the redundant AOA and provide training to disable the MCAS, an…
> No, that reactor had an inherent instability that could not be fixed.
There are many exactly same reactors as was in Chernobyl fixed and running still:
> Most of the flaws in the design of RBMK-1000 reactors were corrected after the Chernobyl accident and a dozen reactors have since been operating without any serious incidents for over twenty years.
Even Chernobyl itself had 3 remaining reactors working for many years after the disaster, last decommissioned in 2000.
Re: Boeing has temporarily stopped making 737 Max airplanes
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
This will probably be the safest plane to fly on, considering the amount of scrutiny the FAA is now applying.
Would restarting Chernobyl make it the safest NPP considering the amount of scrutiny that it would be put through? Maybe we should look into re-introducing Windows Vista, considering the scrutiny that it would require it must be the safest and most stable OS ever.
Fun fact:
> Most of the flaws in the design of RBMK-1000 reactors were corrected after the Chernobyl accident and a dozen reactors have since been operating without any serious incidents for over twenty years. [99]
Including 3 remaining reactors of Chernobyl Power Plant itself.