1) Their supplier network was a mess post-COVID, 2) they wouldn't budge on pricing, and 3) Boeing internal forecasts are, even in good times, generally worse th

1) Their supplier network was a mess post-COVID, 2) they wouldn't budge on pricing, and 3) Boeing internal forecasts are, even in good times, generally worse than a coin toss. Wait, that last bit isn't quite right. Internal forecasts are generally flexible, rather than random, to adjust for the mood of the Overlord of the day. So if you get a stretch where the boss is feeling tetchy, forecasts suddenly start turning pretty good. It doesn't help that, at least anecdotally, the forecasting group's all been former executive assistants and people who were kicked out of systems engineering. Generally people on their way to somewhere else. Working anywhere in the Boeing procurement group is a career death sentence, there is just no scenario where you win that fight. The price is never low enough, the suppliers are never getting enough money, and eventually you're going to be the scapegoat for a shortfall somewhere, whether it be cash or off-spec parts or PWAs stuffed full of tinsel and compressed dander.