It’s a shitty Newsweek headline, is it 1700 planes or 1700 flights? The PLAAF does not even have 1700 planes I think.
In either case, this is worrying. One more reason Ukraine must be successful in its defence, to show that military expansionism is not a viable ideology today.
The top brass at Boeing probably won’t be getting a lot of leisure time until then
Why do you say this? What gives you the idea that they will face some form of workload pressure because of this?
The only people not getting leisure time will be the persons responsible fixing this. The consequences for the top brass will be Golden Parachuting to the next job, losing stock or face devaluation of said stock.
If you honestly think top brass is actually fixing this or face some form of heavy workload then you’d be wrong.
PS: This is not a manifesto on the inequalities of the current system 😊
It’s based on 40+ years of working where I have never seen top brass taking any form of responsibility or workload. They ‘connect’, ‘network’ and god knows what. All fair play if hired for that but please, do not confuse top management and actual work on products or being involved in fixing products. Also, never seen them ‘empower’ or ‘facilitate’ so others can work more efficiently or something like that.
Part of the reason the top brass get paid so much is that they’re on the chopping block if something goes wrong like this. It’s so the company can fire ask someone to step down and point to them and say, “See, we did something. Now everyone forgot our gross negligence.”
I used to believe this, then the 2008 banking crisis came along, banks were looking at going bankrupt, the government had to step in, and the CEOs got 7- and 8-figure bonuses.
Right, and just to make sure, where do I apply to get on the chopping block with the golden parachute? I want to be chopped parachuted so hard, I’ll cheat and swindle all you want (wait… hope that saying this publicly didn’t disqualify me?).
Why do you say this? What gives you the idea that they will face some form of workload pressure because of this?
Oh, I’d be very surprised if any actual personal responsibility found its way to them. But they’re gonna have to look super busy and worried for the press for a while, find somebody else to pin the blame on, call friends in government to ‘expedite’ any investigations and reassure their shareholders. That’s gonna cost them a lot of time they could have spent on nicer things such as working on their handicap, doing coke in the coutry club’s bathroom or firing a couple of hundred workers.
It sounds like a “there isn’t a single corner that wasn’t cut from design to manufacturing to QA” problem. They should give the management board another bonus.
Any military is going to practice things. It makes sense for china to practice this since they are literally surrounded by usa military bases and are threatened by them constantly. This is nothingburger.
The only thing that’s threatened by US military bases are their imperial ambitions in the region. There’s a reason why even Vietnam is seeking US protection. You know that the US isn’t going to attack China first.
I’m looking forward to the interview with the guy who got fired because he was late for work and offered “an airplane window fell on my car” as an excuse.
what happens if snatch a drone carrying hundreds of thousands of dollars?
Run.
If the owner finds you… like if they have a camera recording and the GPS location… you might get some free bullets on top of it.
Spain has some relatively strict gun control. That doesn’t mean someone controlling the smuggling of millions of € in drugs, can’t pay a few grand for some of his “acquaintances” to fly all the way over, get his property back “by whatever means”, and fly back the next day.
Unfortunately, airliners are left with little choice. Nobody wants to be beholden to a single air frame manufacturer. Even the more conservative airlines have been purchasing Boeing, simply so they are not beholden to a single manufacturer (AeroBus). Everyone in the industry is aware of where we stand, but the United States has let their defense industrial base to merge from dozens of companies to less than a dozen. It’s a real problem.
I know, logically speaking, that air travel is statistically very safe. But it’s news like this that makes me anxious about flying later in the year (for the first time in 15 years!), especially as the last leg of my outward journey is on a 737 Max.
If it’s any consolation, the odds of your flight ending in an air incident, or even a hull loss is incredibly slim. You have greater odds of being attacked by a polar bear, and a regular bear on the same day. I understand your apprehension, though and it says a lot about the state of Boeing.
Yeah, it’s one of those things where I understand intellectually that the odds of an incident are incredibly low. I’m sure I read somewhere that air travel is statistically the safest form of travel. But anxiety is definitely not logical!
(Those two bears would have to be very determined to attack me - neither are native here!)
A spokeswoman for Intuit, Tania Mercado, criticized the direct file project as a “half-baked solution” and a waste of taxpayer money. “The direct file scheme is a solution in search of a problem,”
That’s rich coming from a company that created a problem so they can sell their solution.
Either way, there are better software than Intuit, like FreeTaxUSA.
I liked that quote. Intuit being the biggest waste of money claiming direct filing is a waste of money. Like you said, FreeTaxUSA is at least reasonable.
Hard to argue that having a dozen companies developing IT software and systems to file taxes is more efficient them the organization that specifies the filing requirements do it once. The current system is more like a welfare program for the tax companies.
I highly recommend you watch Netflix’s Downfall: The Case Against Boeing. The hostile takeover by McDonnell-Douglas trashed that company. I try to avoid flying in anything post-takeover that carries a Boeing name.
My administrative law professor, eons ago, worked as a supreme court clerk. Very smart person, very kind, and very neutral on anything political so no one could call him a hack when he shared his professional opinion. He halted class one day when the Max situation came up. He spent 3 hours devoted to his experiences with the FAA Regulatory apparatus, Airbus, and Boeing. He remarked about the redesign of the aircraft, engine placement, stalls, and how generational aircraft are inspected and approved. He went on to explain how Boeing had been, for years (since the hostile take over) been trying to push the boundaries of what was, and was not, an acceptable submission to the FAA for a speedy review as an updated generational aircraft, and was getting away with it. The documentary pretty much lays this out but profit margin, competition with Airbus, and hubris = QA/QC shortcuts as well as cost-savings shortcuts in design.
After all the reports came out, which that documentary I linked does an excellent job of detailing, I look back on that class and thank my lucky stars for the time I spent learning from that man. The 737 Max should have been an entirely new aircraft, with more rigorous scrutiny by regulators. But since it was just an “upgrade” it get away with major structural, software, and hydraulics changes without so much as a glance.
I try not to fly on anything from the post-takeover Boeing, and try to get on an Airbus whenever possible. An extra couple of bucks or a few extra layovers is worth it compared to being an example of why Boeing sucks.
Out of everything out there, aircraft are NOT something to skimp and take shortcuts on. These fucks don’t care if we die on their aircraft if it means making shareholders a bit more money. God, I can’t wait for this system to fall apart.
I don’t work for Airbus, but they could crush Boeing by taking a profit hit and offering at-cost, financed replacements over the long term for anyone with a MAX. I imagine going that route could be cheaper than grounding all your aircraft or loosing one with all aboard.
I highly recommend you watch Netflix’s Downfall: The Case Against Boeing.
As a free alternative/companion, I would also suggest the PBS documentary Boeing’s Fatal Flaw, which features the CEO subtly throwing the pilots under the bus for one of the MCAS crashes.
I worked as a DOD contractor for several years. The downfall of Boeing is a case study in toxic leadership. Boeing was once known as the juggernaut in the industry, capable of engineering amazing feats that only someone as large as them could pull off. Over the past decade, that reputation has become inverted. They are of the butt of many jokes. Their merger with Douglas brought out the worst in Douglas and drove out the best in Boeing. I worked for a competing firm, but in many situations we have to cooperate with competing firms in order to deliver on contracts. When I say that interactions with Boeing have left me bewildered, I am speaking conservatively. Management has become overrun with penny pinchers and career MBAs. Engineers are no longer leading the company, and it shows. The quality of components coming out of Boeing these days is frankly terrifying. I book flights with Delta and unfortunately, they have opted to contract for several Boeing MAX airliners. I will cancel my flight if my itinerary shows that I will be flying on such an aircraft. The odds of an incident are incredibly slim, but having worked in aerospace, I will not take the risk. Vote with your wallet and do the same.
I mentioned on another discussion board that I may have to start factoring in the plane manufacturer as I choose flights. Which is insane in this day and age. Unfortunately, Southwest is the carrier with the most flights and direct routes at my home airport, and Southwest only flies Boeing 737s. Plus, SWA is trying to replace their older 737s with 737 MAX models.
I’ve started flying Delta some last year, but like you said, Delta has both Boeing and Airbus in their fleet. But even if I did only choose Airbus flights with Delta, it’s not like they (and all other carriers) don’t sometimes change planes at the last minute, as needs dictate. Rarely, if ever, would I have the luxury to be like “Nope, nevermind, I’m not getting on that plane,” if that were to happen.
I know air travel is super, super, super safe compared to all other forms of transportation. You’re right that the odds of an incident are incredibly slim, given there are several tens of thousands of commercial passenger flights across the world each day that move millions of people. But boy does it feel like Boeing is aiming to change that, just so they can get some more pennies and dollars here and there. Shameful.
I can't wait to use it, but it seems it doesn't support overseas income yet and I live full-time outside of the US (and yes we legally have to file taxes every year even if we won't owe anything).
Yes it has become increasingly difficult for me to file taxes abroad. For my 2021 taxes I had to print out and physically mail my return since for some reason the electronic filing failed. For my 2022 taxes every company I used to file taxes from in the past refused to take my non-American credit card. I couldn’t even access the free stuff, presumably due to some IP blocking.
Hopefully eventually the IRS will solve this and everyone who needs to file taxes can easily do it for free.
I've been using H&R block, but every year shit breaks and I have to fight with them. Latest was that my NRA wife broke all their validations (despite it properly flagging her an NRA)
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