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Tuesday, September 9, 2014

787 Delivery Pace Settles on 40 more 787's by Years End

Boeing has settled 70 787 with its customers and is flying during 2014. Early guidance suggests 40 more 787 are on the way before December 31, 2014. It will establish a new benchmark of 110 787's in one year added to the World's fleet. The additional seat capacity is an approximately 250 seats -times-110 aircraft, equaling 27,500 seats added on the 787 networks each day. This incremental increase could represent a significant 787 usage number in both miles and travelers. Image 10,075,000 passenger increase in just one year. It has already established over 20 million passengers have flown on the 787. At the end of 2014 it will be 30,000,000 (million) or more passengers flying on the 787.

Bless Al Jazeera for finding unhappy Boeing workers who have any story to report on 787 quality, at Charleston SC. A disgruntled and alarmed workforce is a good starting point for interviews. Its a reflection on management, and the workforce at Charleston. Boeing is or was aware of floor problems. That is why it takes longer at Charleston for delivery of any 787. One level of work knows the problems as it passes by its work station. Buy the time it (787) is finally delivered, it is a safe airplane with many do-overs on the work order.  If anything can be said about a Union WorkForce is its, higher accountability for work performed. Nothing is worse than having your working peers telling someone "Don't screw it up for everybody else". The floor stewards in Everett keep a sharp eye out for both management, and work performance. I'm not sure this kind of relationship exists in Charleston, SC. Who's the idea was it to allow Al Jazeera in with a hidden camera. Workers can't even do that trick for themselves. Somebody is getting fired or demoted for allowing in, Al Jazeera, as a decision. Even though workers recognize its own floor problems and mistakes, Boeing makes a continuous improvement model as part of airplane building and doesn't sweep the sawdust under the carpet as a solution.

Al Jazeera noted, it took over a year to get its extracted information, during its in-depth reporting research. It appears it targeted the negative side of the workplace.

Even though it interviewed both Union and Non-Union players, the focus was on any and all problems where it would sell copy. I can't blame them, they are doing its job for the traveling public. However, the sky is not falling in on the 787. Quite the contrary, Boeing's stake in this report has many layers, from management, the supplier, and then the workforce. Engineering is a stakeholder too. If it can not design or make reliable parts then it is not competent and that problem will be corrected, as it has already done so many times during this project. The risk is too high for Boeing to do it any other way at this point, and it will react to this bit of news pointed out in the press.

Did Al Jeezera "hyperbole" Boeing? I think not, only it took anecdotal information and placed it awkwardly as the Boeing standard when in reality that standard is watched every hour of every day. Some people on the floor have a different perspective, and Boeing doesn't always listen to the noise coming from the floor (AL Jazeera did), but it tracks what isn't correct and fixes it before delivery. Otherwise, there would have been a far more 787 emergencies than what it has experienced. Air India is a prime example of Charleston's work.

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