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November 2024

Arthur_Foyt

This story was first reported in the magazine named “Duh”.

November 2024

Raf

Hmm, it’s ironic that Boeing’s machinists, who just finished striking for better pay and security, now face potential layoffs.

4 replies
November 2024 ▶ Raf

keef

I believe this is what you call Karma

November 2024

tommy

Complete mismanagement by management for decades. Yes, this is Karma and as others would like you to believe, it’s not transitory.

November 2024

Raf

If layoffs lead to labor unrest or another strike, the financial damage—like the $1 billion-per-month loss during the last strike—could far outweigh the savings. In other words, this would prove Tommy’s point about poor management decisions causing long-term harm.

November 2024 ▶ Raf

Arthur_Foyt

Businesses cannot just print money.
Putting a business several billion dollars in the hole and then not expecting cost cutting afterwards is not ironic, it’s economics 101. I am really sorry layoffs will happen but everyone should have seen that one coming.

1 reply
November 2024

cannuck

Boeing’s problems go much deeper than employee and union issues, and they share these problems with many other companies and business sectors.

Businesses were built by entrepreneurs and run by businessmen (and women) who’s purpose in life was to make their mark in the world and their money by building a better product or delivering a better service to a customer base they knew and understood. We have long ago shifted the global economy to one who’s religion is greed not some mutual respect between producer and customers. I suggest looking at how GE led the way in Jack’s day. When you see a company scooping up other companies using capital to play M&A games instead of product and production, you know the boardroom is being run by financiers, not business people.

Boeing is just a very large and extremely visible version of the rot that has set into corporate America…and the world. What their unions are doing to it is something we will see more of - while the employees actually doing productive work look at a boardroom full who cash in on golden parachutes by the tens of millions EACH with every acquisition or sale. If you want to get employees to be loyal, faithful, productive, conscientious and produce consistently high quality work, you need to set that example.

November 2024

Will_Alibrandi

Boeing has a huge back order of aircraft, especially the 737. Trimming production jobs right now is going to affect their ability to build and deliver airplanes which is going to affect their balance sheet which is having the knock-on effect of keeping airlines from hiring more flight crew. This is just a shit sammich no matter how you look at it.

November 2024 ▶ Raf

rick.freeman100

I own a metal lathe, a milling machine, grinders, bandsaws, precision measuring tools, micron surface plates, collet indexers, gage pins, precision reamers, full axis DRO’s, TIG and MIG welders, etc etc. I make parts from raw stock like a machinist would. I always wondered why rivet poppers and assemblers get to be called machinists, and make more money than them.

November 2024

Raf

So, I researched the situation, and here’s a breakdown of the factors contributing to Boeing’s current struggles:

  1. Management Decisions (40%): Cost-cutting over quality led to major issues like the 737 MAX crisis, eroding trust with regulators and customers.
  2. Engineering and Production (30%): Design flaws and quality control issues delayed production and increased costs.
  3. Supply Chain Management (15%): Supplier oversight failures and logistical delays compounded production problems.
  4. Regulatory and Compliance (10%): Weak safety standards and costly legal settlements added financial strain.
  5. Labor Relations (5%): Strikes and morale issues disrupted productivity and hurt efficiency.

Boeing’s challenges are systemic and require leadership to address mismanagement, rebuild trust, and improve operations across the board.

2 replies
November 2024 ▶ Arthur_Foyt

KirkW

Boeing losses over the years:

2020: - $11.9B
2021: - $4.3B
2022: - $5.1B
2023: - $2.2B
2024: - $6.0B (before the strike)

Yeah, the strike is why Boeing is doing so poorly… /s

1 reply
November 2024 ▶ KirkW

Arthur_Foyt

KirkW, Correct!
Boeing was probably laying off in Q4/Q1 anyway and this just expanded the cuts. But hey, Boeing loses, more employees lose, and only the Union keeps it’s money stream going at current or better levels. Union bosses are not stupid.

November 2024 ▶ Raf

Raf

Arthur J Foyt: Organizational dysfunction did it! The strike didn’t help, it’s just one chapter in a much larger story of systemic mismanagement and missed opportunities. To recover, Boeing must tackle the root causes of its struggles, rather than relying on workforce cuts as a band-aid solution.

1 reply
November 2024 ▶ Raf

Arthur_Foyt

RAF, Absolutely.
My point was that the union bosses knew that as well.
Every action the union took was was not to correct problems but to maximize their money income on the way down. Same and the management at Boeing.

November 2024

Dennis_C

So goes Detroit, So goes Seattle…

November 2024 ▶ Raf

jetdoc

I doubt there will be many machinists that get the chop. That’s where the shortage s are within the company right now. I look to see more cuts in admin and other more white collar areas. If Boeing wants to ramp up production they need bodies to put the parts together… I agree that it’s greed and classic mismanagement that got them where they are.

November 2024

JohnS

Gee, cant imagine why this happened. Boeing hires all the MacD managers that drove the MD11 into financial ruin. These “managers” design and build the 787 using the MD11 business model. They start loosing money, so use the same management technique to redesign the 737. And decide they need to update the management of the 737 production to their new “method” .

They say stupidity is trying the same thing over and over expecting different results.

Boeing needs to return to the engineering company who occasionally happens to make money. Engineering and quality first. And the world will pay for a quality product. Ask Toyota.

November 2024

rpstrong

Care to post your sources? Who assigns the percentages, and how?

November 2024

Raf

rpstrong: These percentages were derived through a combination of research and AI assistance. The following sources, among others, provided key insights:

Business Time: Offered insights into management decisions and their impact on Boeing’s operations.

U.S. News Money: Provided information on financial strains stemming from regulatory and compliance issues.

Statista: Supplied data on production delays and supply chain challenges.

Skift: Discussed labor relations and their effects on productivity.

ChatGPT 4.0: Synthesized information from these sources, helping to develop a comprehensive analysis.

To achieve these results, I submitted specific queries to ChatGPT 4.0, leveraging its ability to analyze, interpret, and compile insights from multiple sources. This collaborative approach enabled a detailed and quantified assessment of Boeing’s systemic challenges.

Why Quantification Matters: The purpose of this quantification is to identify and weigh the key factors driving Boeing’s current struggles. Assigning percentages allows for a clearer understanding of where the most critical issues lie—whether in management, production, supply chain, or labor relations. This data-driven approach ensures that discussions about Boeing’s challenges are informed and focused, rather than speculative or biased.

Additional Sources: In addition to the key sources listed above, articles on the matter were included in the data cruch: ABP Live, Benzinga, Gulf Today, KING 5 NEWS, CBS News, Sky News, GAO, PBS, Interesting Engineering, ABC, Columbia SPS, HBS Working Knowledge, Al Jazeera, WBUR, FAA, SpringerLink, CMI, AP News, Anton Kravets, The New Yorker, The Systems Perspective, DAU, Labyrinth Coaching Consulting, IACIS, Wikipedia, and SAGE Journals.

Addendum (By OpenAI): The estimated margin of error for the percentage breakdown is ±5% overall, with individual categories varying slightly: