11 ms·
I find it just really endearing that at companies, regardless of how many other issues they have or the dysfunctions and bland corporate culture, there are peop
by supernova87a 4y ago
I find it just really endearing that at companies, regardless of how many other issues they have or the dysfunctions and bland corporate culture, there are people who keep the pride of purpose and "olden days / traditions" in their memory and do things like this. Or are able to call on institutional memory of something bygone, that reappears once in a while. (whether it's a big gesture like this or small cultural day-to-day manifestations).
You wonder how pockets of this survive when top management comes and goes, who sometimes only know the company as just some logo or another corporation to be managed, and when workforces go through rounds and rounds of potential layoffs where such knowledge and initiative is generally lost.
Maybe it also helps to be a company that has at least something to do with hardware that leaves a physical history :)
- SQueeeeeL 4y ago> You wonder how pockets of this survive when top management comes and goes, who sometimes only know the company as just some logo or another corporation to be managed This makes me so sad, all of our traditions which make companies unique will actually be eroded away by market forces. No wonder no one stays at a workplace anymore.
- dleslie 4y agoThe market force putting a stop to this is legal liability that can arise from undocumented or unauthorized behaviour. That's more an issue of an overly-litigious society.
- cj 4y agoI’m sure culture/traditions play a role in employee retention, but it feels like “the 20-year tenure company man/woman” of the 90’s was likely driven by less optionality in the job market compared to today, and also fewer benefits to staying with a company long-term (e.g. no more pensions, unlimited vacation for both new and old employees, etc).
- mulmen 4y agoBoeing still needs pilots. They're a sentimental, capable, and stubborn bunch.
- protastus 4y agoEvery complex project lives and dies by a relatively small group of true believers. From the outside, we don't know who they are, but sometimes we get a glimpse of their passion.
- polishdude20 4y agoI think it's more that most people are basically trying their best and that includes managers and top brass. Sometimes we get a glimpse when that shines through from the whole group.
- mach1ne 4y agoI don’t mean to be negative, but most people certainly don’t try their best. Many are only working for the paycheck and don’t attach their sense of success to their professional output.
- americanmotto 4y agoAgree. I've said for ~10 years now, that it seems the American Dream has transitioned from "Anything is possible as long as you work hard enough." to "Do as little as work possible to get the same paycheck." Something has definitely changed in the culture.
- dbingham 4y agoWhat could have possibly changed in the last several decades that might have affected someone's willingness to give their job there all? https://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap/ https://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap/ Sorry for the sarcasm, but it is very frustrating to see people standing around wondering at this change as if it's a moral failing when people have been pointing out for decades that those at the top broke the social contract and that there would eventually be consequences.
- mcv 4y ago
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- blantonl 4y agoWhat's cool is that aviation can be so stifling at times with training, rules, regulations, etc, that it seems that certain very cool traditions are either set in stone, or born and survive relatively intact. ADSB reporting, which powers these flight tracking sites that are available to the public, is (relatively speaking) a very new thing to aviation and the general public. And the fact that these maneuvers are absolutely fantastic training and aviation problem solving and you've got the perfect storm for a newly born tradition that will continue to survive and evolve.
- mulmen 4y agoIs this tradition even new? Drawing things in the sky seems to be a well established aviation tradition.
- blantonl 4y agoNot at this extent, and the ability for the general public to be aware of it.
- mulmen 4y agoSkywriting seems visible to me? This is just an evolution of the same idea. This is a Looney Toons gimmick.
- tobinfricke 4y ago> Drawing things in the sky seems to be a well established aviation tradition Not really... This level of high-precision and publicly-available flight tracking is pretty new.
- brian-armstrong 4y agohttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skywriting https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skywriting
- asmithmd1 4y ago
- dingosity 4y agoI'm sure someone will get fired over this.
- obrajesse 4y agoWhy? It was even the scheduled flight plan. https://twitter.com/FlyingPhotog/status/1620605523094818819 https://twitter.com/FlyingPhotog/status/1620605523094818819?
- crazygringo 4y agoWhy do you think top management isn't part of this? Many times it's top management itself that makes sure these traditions continue. Maintaining company culture is something incredibly important to a lot of executives, at certain companies at least. And judging from the press, this was a highly coordinated event including thousands of spectators and John Travolta. [1] Top management can love having fun and maintaining traditions too. They're people too. [1] https://thepointsguy.com/news/boeing-747-farewell-celebration/ https://thepointsguy.com/news/boeing-747-farewell-celebratio...
- bigiain 4y ago> Why do you think top management isn't part of this? Many times it's top management itself that makes sure these traditions continue. Maintaining company culture is something incredibly important to a lot of executives, at certain companies at least. It sure as hell wasn't the "out source the 737 Max 8 avionics software to some low cost of living $8/hr contractors" beancounter management. Nor the "lets make the secondary angle of attack sensor part of the 'premium package' and blame the cheapskate customers when their planes crash" MBA bro management. And it definitely wasn't the "Lets put 'undue pressure' on our ODA-certified staff and make them lie to the FAA about the MAX8 program" assholes either. But maybe you're right, maybe it's not an entire barrel of bad apples yet...
- fransje26 4y agoOr the let's-move-the-historical-headquarters-to-Chicago top management, so that the engineers wouldn't come and bother them.
- harry8 4y agoI basically wear zero visible labels on my clothes because why would I wear advertising? I own a t-shirt with 747 on it and a picture. It's one of the great pieces of human engineering. Many of us, even those who have never had anything to do with it beyond seeing one in the sky and occasionally riding on one love it like any other great work of creation. There would be people who think like that who joined boeing in the past couple of years...
- UberFly 4y agoNice. I love it. It's like the trendy NASA shirts you see. Now there's a logo to flaunt regardless of the reason.
- gcanyon 4y agoAs this involved an extra hour(?) of flight time, it cost thousands of dollars. It also required filing a particular flight plan, and probably coordination between Boeing and Atlas. So it seems safe to say that it required approval at a pretty high level. And given everything else that happened surrounding the delivery, that doesn't seem strange at all.
- userbinator 4y ago"thousands of dollars" may seem like a lot to an individual, but to a company like Boeing, it's tiny. They probably spend far more on explicit advertising than this.
- qwertox 4y agohttps://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n863gt/#2f0b1162 https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n863gt/#2f0b1162 The drawing started at 16:50 UTC and ended at 19:30 UTC, so 2 hours and 40 minutes of the 6 hours and 20 minutes long flight. In any case, this most likely required approval from the FAA, but the cost per se should be neglectable, considering that they have been produced since 1970s.
- selectodude 4y agoIt didn’t require approval from the FAA as the flight plan was filed in class G (uncontrolled) airspace below 14,000 feet. Might have been a bit of a trip to fly in your Cessna and see a 747 flying down there though.
- qwertox 4y agoYou're right, thank you for sharing that fact. I revisited the flight data and if flies below 13,000 ft until it finished the drawing. Then it rose to 41,000 ft and increased the speed from ~200 knots to somewhat over 500. It blows my mind to think that an 747 is allowed to use the uncontrolled airspace as if it were a Cessna.
- 4y ago
- noobermin 4y agoThis is why people on the ground deserve more respect (and yes, pay) than they get.
- obrajesse 4y ago. o O { also, the ones in the sky }
- maximinus_thrax 4y ago> there are people who keep the pride of purpose and "olden days / traditions" in their memory and do things like this. My inner cynic cannot ignore the fact that this was a planned flight, with several layers of approvals, not something a small group of enthusiasts did as an homage to the olden days. I bet this is a PR stunt and nothing else. Yes, I am very fun at parties.
- phantomathkg 4y agoEven with multiple approval. One has to started this, with everyone in the approval chain to agree this homage is worthwhile to do.
- dTal 4y agoYour inner cynic might be warmed with a reread this classic anecdote, as a reminder that even the glossy PR-ified output of a huge corporation can be the work of a few passionate individuals with human motivations: https://www.pacifict.com/Story/ https://www.pacifict.com/Story/
- renonce 4y agohttps://aviationsourcenews.com/breaking/atlas-air-to-fly-special-747-flight-plan-on-final-boeing-747-delivery-flight/ https://aviationsourcenews.com/breaking/atlas-air-to-fly-spe... The ceremony is prepared by CEO himself in this case.
- phtrivier 4y agoThis should be the top comment, and the title should probably be set to "Planned ceremonial flight path of last 747 delivery path". There a now hundreds of comments arguing about how this "Easter egg" got pulled off, when it is in fact nothing else than a well organized publicity stunt (typical HN discussion, though, I suppose ? Fontenelle, golden teeth, etc..) Good for the 747 folks, though, it's always nice to get some form of recognition. And good luck to all the people trying to make planes fly with less GHG emissions - hopefully they get a ceremony, too, someday.
- cfeduke 4y agoHeh, the last time two Marine aviators drew a suitable shape often doodled throughout the Corps[1] it was not as well appreciated! Though they were certainly keeping pride of purpose alive. 1. https://metro.co.uk/2018/11/11/marine-pilots-investigated-for-drawing-a-giant-penis-in-the-sky-8128394/ https://metro.co.uk/2018/11/11/marine-pilots-investigated-fo...
- mcv 4y agoWhile I certainly appreciate the passion and artistry to design and fly a path like that, I also wonder if it's not incredibly wasteful to do that with a kerosine-burning 747.
- lobochrome 4y agoOf course, it is. And you don't wonder; you know that ;) But it is also deeply human. Humans are designing this aeroplane and building this aeroplane. It's a piece of human history and a significant one in recent times. So it is well worth ignoring efficiency and commemorating it for the sake of the humans involved. After all, our entire human existence is incredibly wasteful.
- njacobs5074 4y agoInteresting narrative - all we need is Bruce Willis at the controls and we’re gold ;) I’m sure it was all planned and coordinated with their marketing team. After all, they need to figure out important things like how much fuel, time to arrival, etc. Right?
- NathanielBathe 4y agoI read your perspectives on intellectual loneliness and wondered round for an embarrassing period (this is my first encounter with this site… I’m also a dinosaur) in an effort to thank you. It did a great deal for me, not because I’m a genius, not that I have a sob story, not like some genuinely have. I realised young that it was strange to ask why it was so important to seemingly everyone else that this ball, this fecking spherical sack of air, went over there. Fame fortune and sex if I was the cause of it resulting to be ‘over there’. Hahaha I didn’t hate it, it was fine. Still not 100 convinced that people can love it as much as they say they do though. Other authors are available :) As I say though. Thank you for spending the/your time. It’s made a difference