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So, they were in a real bind with the 737MAX crashes. Airbus looked likely to take away all new sales, while Boeing had no time to get a replacement ready. Th

So, they were in a real bind with the 737MAX crashes. Airbus looked likely to take away all new sales, while Boeing had no time to get a replacement ready. Then, the pandemic resulted in a more than year-long delay in most airplane sales. It appears that Boeing has used this "time out" to...do nothing. They are in more or less exactly the same situation they were in over a year ago. This looks like GM in the late 1970's.

hyperbovine 5y ago
In fairness, lots of us got nothing done during the pandemic.
- rossdavidh 5y ago
  Fair point.
iSnow 5y ago
Are we really sure they are not working on a next-generation plane behind the scenes? I doubt they would just sit there and do nothing after the MAX fiasco.
- zardo 5y ago
  IIRC their development cycle for a ground up design is about 30 years.
  - pmcollins 5y ago
    from wikipedia’s 747 article: > Boeing agreed to deliver the first 747 to Pan Am by the end of 1969. The delivery date left 28 months to design the aircraft, which was two-thirds of the normal time. surely they can do a ground up design in under 5 years?
    - bobthepanda 5y ago
      The 747-8 was announced in 2005, and started passenger service in 2012. Planes have increased in complexity in the last 50 years. It is legitimately very difficult to make a plane as cheap and efficient as airlines want, and as safe and (relatively) quiet as regulators want. Boeing and Airbus are not a duopoly because of a lack of attempts. And even they screw up; the 747-8 and A380 turned out to be duds because they were too hard to fill and four engines needs more fuel than two.
  - iSnow 5y ago
    Going by Wikipedia, they saw the need for a new plane (the later named 787) by the late 90's, announced it in 2003 and delivered the first plane in 2011. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_787_Dreamliner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_787_Dreamliner
AnimalMuppet 5y ago
They got the MAX flying again. So, quite a bit more than "nothing".
- ChuckMcM 5y ago
  While true, getting the MAX flying was a business continutity thing (I suspect, but can't prove obviously, that they would end up divesting their passenger jet division if they had to write off the MAX in its entirety) But it is also true that what is going on inside Boeing is not exactly visible to people outside of Boeing. Further, ripping out a previous process and replacing it doesn't really generate externally visible signs, typically it is visible by better results.

hyperbovine 5y ago

In fairness, lots of us got nothing done during the pandemic.

rossdavidh 5y ago
Fair point.

iSnow 5y ago

Are we really sure they are not working on a next-generation plane behind the scenes? I doubt they would just sit there and do nothing after the MAX fiasco.

zardo 5y ago
IIRC their development cycle for a ground up design is about 30 years.
- pmcollins 5y ago
  from wikipedia’s 747 article: > Boeing agreed to deliver the first 747 to Pan Am by the end of 1969. The delivery date left 28 months to design the aircraft, which was two-thirds of the normal time. surely they can do a ground up design in under 5 years?
  - bobthepanda 5y ago
    The 747-8 was announced in 2005, and started passenger service in 2012. Planes have increased in complexity in the last 50 years. It is legitimately very difficult to make a plane as cheap and efficient as airlines want, and as safe and (relatively) quiet as regulators want. Boeing and Airbus are not a duopoly because of a lack of attempts. And even they screw up; the 747-8 and A380 turned out to be duds because they were too hard to fill and four engines needs more fuel than two.
- iSnow 5y ago
  Going by Wikipedia, they saw the need for a new plane (the later named 787) by the late 90's, announced it in 2003 and delivered the first plane in 2011. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_787_Dreamliner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_787_Dreamliner

AnimalMuppet 5y ago

They got the MAX flying again. So, quite a bit more than "nothing".

ChuckMcM 5y ago
While true, getting the MAX flying was a business continutity thing (I suspect, but can't prove obviously, that they would end up divesting their passenger jet division if they had to write off the MAX in its entirety) But it is also true that what is going on inside Boeing is not exactly visible to people outside of Boeing. Further, ripping out a previous process and replacing it doesn't really generate externally visible signs, typically it is visible by better results.