United has a plan, but it needs a validation from researching its regional market. Initially it had ordered 65 737-700's in a market filling move. Then it decided that move would be parleyed into a Max Order. United had moved towards new technology at the expense of right sizing its own passenger demand constraints. It is currently reviewing the 100 seat market as its 737 back-order mix consist of airplanes much larger than a 100 seats. United's resources are limited and it can not purchase every line of aircraft when filling its vast market place.
United's current fleet dichotomy:
Plane spotter's
Notice the absence of 100 seat aircraft in the above chart. United will have to reconfigure its operation over its whole fleet costing millions/ Billion's?
It needs every kind of aircraft currently offered by every manufacturer selling aircraft. The would include Embraer's, 737 family and Bombardier's using every seat category from 50 to 200 seats.
It placed its capitol towards the 737 family of aircraft early on its strategic move for small body single aisle. It then converted those 737-700's into a wide array of single aisle orders. Now it is looking at the 100 seat category where the 737-700 would be too large to manage in its small market places. Flying to Kalispell, Mt would be ideal for a hundred seat aircraft with a network of Spokane Wa. Billing's Mt and a Seattle Wa. This example would mix small towns with large towns with ease and affordability for its customers which a 737 aircraft may not fit its regional footprint for an efficient operation.
United is concerned with fitting a 100 seat aircraft into its fleet mix while having an affordable operations cost. Control over costs of a non-conforming fleet aircraft is a fundamental concern after having a Boeing main fleet composition. By including a small body Bombardier would wear on the cost efficiency for its operations crew including its maintenance parts, and servicing. This introduction of a small body division could jeopardize the efficiency gained from having fleet commonality.
The airline has to find its way through the maze of options from other manufacturers such as Embraer or Bombardier. This conundrum had bothered the likes of Delta airlines and others as well. A careful path from what the other airlines have etched is a way through the market swamp assisting United's small body aspirations. It only has to figure out how to pay for a non conforming fleet from start to finish within its operational constraints.
My Blog List
Monday, August 21, 2017
Saturday, August 19, 2017
Operation Defending Nemo
Nuclear capability Classifications:
- A class one nuclear capability could be structured as a combatant which has land, sea and air (space) capability to deliver a nuclear war head anywhere in the world at any time. It will also have the capability of a sustained attack mode where striking once is not its limit from its nuclear arsenal, while striking repeatedly is in its ability when having robust delivery capability. There are only a few nations who may have this level of nuclear delivery within the entire world scope. Retaliation between two in this class could lead to a planet killing result.
- A class two nuclear capability, suggest some items are missing from a class one nuclear arsenal and has some limitation for an extensive duration of launch attacks. It also may be missing an element from land, sea or air (space) launches. However, a class two nuclear capability alarms every nation that a strike may exists anywhere in the world for maximum effect. Its sustaining of nuclear attack has a limited duration since retaliatory action would eliminate its ability for continuation of its nuclear delivery for very long.
- A class three nuclear capability is where the world is teetering upon at this time when a rogue nation does not or has not established itself as a responsible member of the nuclear community. It has launch capability and demonstrates a desire for additional delivery capabilities through sea and air (space) but has not proven it can deliver in all phases of attack. The duration of a strike is limited to a first salvo with a contained effect where the expectation of a second salvo would not exist or can it occur from the lack of having a sustained supply or delivery systems for nuclear weapons. Additionally, a retaliation would be expected from a member of the nuclear nations affirmed by treaty or policy. Simply put, if attacking a non-nuclear nation with a nuclear weapon would also assure a catastrophic result for that attacking nation.
- A class four nuclear capability comes from a terrorist group or a non-national entity who has no place in the governance of nuclear arms and does not want a participation in any nuclear agreement. These elements suggests no rules govern a nuclear group. It’s a one shot attack without accountability. There is no homeland or source in which to deal with its accountability. Delivery systems are primitive from a container ship to a semi-truck which could deliver a “bomb”. Retaliation would be difficult for any nation. A culture of neutralizing threats from terrorist would form and vindication would come from summarily eliminating “potential threats of persons” who may constitute the potential nuclear threat.
Nemo was a fish lost in the ocean searching for its friends
and family, as Disney would want a following to accept in fun. However, things
are very dangerous and goes beyond Nemo’s exploits. The point of this exercise
is defining whose doing what to whom with some astonishing weapons of
destruction. It could end life as we now enjoy. Nemo wouldn’t even know where Fukushima
came from since a fish swims freely in a world of danger. We are all like Nemo
swimming in a dangerous condition. North Korea has a bomb, and thus it can display an
immature attitude at the expense of the whole planet. Launching four missiles
simultaneously is an implied threat. Nations are using this demonstration in a
dangerous game of leverage over another.
China is a North Korean partner. The US is a South Korean
partner. The Philippines is a drift in the Chinese/Korean end of the Ocean as
well as Japan. Somewhere in between lies US Guam who Kim Jung Um flaunts a
missile launch towards. US Guam is threatened, by a "class three nuclear power". By the
definitions above, the danger goes up as the classification level drops down, three is a very dangerous level of threat. The
policy of mutual destruction does not apply to North Korea or the Terrorists for
different reasons. So how can a solution be found?
Retaliation of any kind would involve a Chinese response. It would come out from China’s diplomatic corner it has placed itself into when considering face
saving is a big part of what it does. The US can’t just invade, it can’t launch
missiles for the sake of South Korea’s peace and there remains a potential escalation
of war from a face saving Chinese response.
The whole stand-off can be broken by an
internal regime change in North Korea. Kim Jung Um has place himself in a
precarious position with high stakes in play. He must go. North Korea internally must
assist as China won’t intervene. North Korea today is 10,000 times more repressive than
China. It would be in China’s and the US best interest by filling any regime change vacuum created in North Korea and stop being difficult with one another out of spite. Korea is
no longer a potential partner in the world arena of nations. It is just a
horrendous example of a repressed people who have lived 60 years as an enslaved humanity. This nation has Stockholm Syndrome and many of its leaders love the
repression foisted upon its people.
- Therefore, a regime change is a dangerous proposition which is the best answer in a bad situation for all involved.
- China needs to “supervise” North Korea when the mad men are removed from power.
- The US must restrain, but defend the South Korean nation.
It will take a whole generation of time to
solve the damage already done within the North Korean nation. China is best positioned to act as
the parent to North Korea’s tantrums. If China won’t act, then it becomes a
mere problem child as well. The US needs to lead China through with an amiable
solution without having China’s face slapped. China must save face and transform
North Korea at the same time. Let the natural selection process of society work-off the insanity out of its culture.
A class three nuclear arsenal is more dangerous than China’s
own aspirations as a nuclear nation. It’s time to unravel the yarn and knit
together a nation in its place. Defending Nemo is the goal and not jerking on the
hook too long is a solution.
Friday, August 18, 2017
Reaching A Quarter Million At The Aviation Renaissance
...was never my intention. Some blogs reach 10 million visits like the All Things 787 blog has, who I depend on for information from time to time. Writing topics has not been a problem to create cheeky compositions or alliteration in this case. Do I know anything? Sometimes I'm spot on and sometimes randomness strikes against my sensibility, but an attempt was made to contribute. The goal is to make a reader think about a Winging It idea when it occurs where each time it tries to make you laugh, cry and stare at what has been written.
Blog hits are a tricky goal when you don't promote or organize a following. I am thankful for the 245,000 or so visits readers have made. I often think that ending this run is the appropriate thing to do, but then I go back and read some of the misspelled or grammatically incorrect text with lost leading ideas melting into something different than what it started. These are usually posts from 2012 through 2015. I will always have something to read as a living history of aviation's renaissance.
I tried to quit in January 2017 as sometimes I irritate those who are in my company, but fail to acknowledge their presence in the room. I'm possessed by aviation and I know it. The assignment was everything Boeing and not the DDG1000 Zumwalt or the F-35 but **it takes over when something is intriguing arises such a an inverted F-35 firing a missile. Boeing must wait until tomorrow for further Winging It patronizing. However, the original assignment must end, because I too have a shelf life and its rapidly coming to a point where a regular contribution becomes a secondary pursuit for when time becomes so short. A break will come forward as some unfinished Winging It business wraps up. I have charts and tracking that I would like to share and will limit contributions to Winging It leading in with those same charts and tracking just mentioned.
The original goal was to preserve my brain function after a massive heart attack in 2011. I started the blog shortly afterwards for mental therapy regimen having an anoxic brain injury in 2011, and it started before 2012. It will be six years this fall since I started, and its a good time to wind down and rejoin the family function without aviation wings hovering over my attention.
Expect fewer posts and more charts in the mix as a transition is taking place. I hope to greet 250,000 guests to the Aviation Renaissance. It will complete me, if this occurs. This goal should happen by the end of September if all keep reading the blog. Please do so as I reach a final approach and land at least near an airport.
Blog hits are a tricky goal when you don't promote or organize a following. I am thankful for the 245,000 or so visits readers have made. I often think that ending this run is the appropriate thing to do, but then I go back and read some of the misspelled or grammatically incorrect text with lost leading ideas melting into something different than what it started. These are usually posts from 2012 through 2015. I will always have something to read as a living history of aviation's renaissance.
I tried to quit in January 2017 as sometimes I irritate those who are in my company, but fail to acknowledge their presence in the room. I'm possessed by aviation and I know it. The assignment was everything Boeing and not the DDG1000 Zumwalt or the F-35 but **it takes over when something is intriguing arises such a an inverted F-35 firing a missile. Boeing must wait until tomorrow for further Winging It patronizing. However, the original assignment must end, because I too have a shelf life and its rapidly coming to a point where a regular contribution becomes a secondary pursuit for when time becomes so short. A break will come forward as some unfinished Winging It business wraps up. I have charts and tracking that I would like to share and will limit contributions to Winging It leading in with those same charts and tracking just mentioned.
The original goal was to preserve my brain function after a massive heart attack in 2011. I started the blog shortly afterwards for mental therapy regimen having an anoxic brain injury in 2011, and it started before 2012. It will be six years this fall since I started, and its a good time to wind down and rejoin the family function without aviation wings hovering over my attention.
Expect fewer posts and more charts in the mix as a transition is taking place. I hope to greet 250,000 guests to the Aviation Renaissance. It will complete me, if this occurs. This goal should happen by the end of September if all keep reading the blog. Please do so as I reach a final approach and land at least near an airport.
Thursday, August 17, 2017
A Seeking Alpha Response Leads to This Chart
Recently, Seeking Alpha answered a "Winging It" question with a very valid
question.
Question from Winging
It:
The netting order changes are hard to follow. Any
Ideas on how its year's cancellations or conversions are found within the
Boeing website in detail? Thanks again for your reports?
His Answer:
Thank you for reading, Andrew. Conversions are almost impossible to follow. You basically have to know what airline X ordered and one day you will see that the order from airline X has been changed. Boeing only shows the cancellations by type on its orders and deliveries page. If you want to find out the changes you will have to save each months sheet and look for the differences.
Winging It Follow-up:
After reading his brief appreciated response, Winging It Blog writing began to think of how this may be done. Below is a rough draft chart attempting this exercise on filling in month by month reporting holes created by limited information from Boeing's website.
Please use this as a rough estimation on how the orders are documented as a running total until the end of the year. Since Boeing does not keep its notations longer than the next entry, Winging It must follow closely its entry as Boeing adds and reports them.
Therefore, the chart below starts somewhere during the year and somewhere is July, 31 2017. A full year's tracking would be impossible at this time since Boeing owns its data and discloses pieces of the puzzle when an update to its website is made.
Starting on August 15, Boeing's first notation for the chart is added. The July 31, reporting is a net and gross number without detail of prior changes up and until that date. However, the first entry is from Boeing's August 15, 2017 data change reported from its website, which similar entries will be logged until the end of the year as posted by Boeing.
Starting on August 15, Boeing's first notation for the chart is added. The July 31, reporting is a net and gross number without detail of prior changes up and until that date. However, the first entry is from Boeing's August 15, 2017 data change reported from its website, which similar entries will be logged until the end of the year as posted by Boeing.
Take this report chart with the knowledge that all data has not been accounted for until the end of the year, since many transactions are in flux from customer preferences. However, is a close estimation going forward with an accurate gross and net totals provided by Boeing. The Chart is an attempt to interpret those those changes Boeing provides from week to week or when it chooses its report changes for its order book.
Fig. 1 Boeing Data Tracking Report:
Monday, August 14, 2017
Did someone say 747 Freighter? (Qatar information Update)
The latest hot topic is what in the heck Qatar is doing
recruiting 747-8F crew members? The world wide spectrum is populated with
747-400 freighters. How does someone infer old 747-400F’s are what's for diner, when the 787-8F’s
are so much newer than the world fleet of 747-400F’s?
The story line is showing that Boeing marketing team is not
sitting still. From space shuttle transportation to luxury cars flying about,
the 747-400F has gotten old. Boeing has claimed the 747-8F has a future and it
knows freight hauling by air is here to stay. The only problem is keeping the
747 production line going and fresh having only seventeen 747-8F’s on its
backlog books and one 747-8i remaining to be built.
Qatar as an unidentified Boeing customer, ordered two 747-8F's in July, but it opens the door for more 747-8F's orders as it gears up its flying staff.
Qatar has dropped the “hiring” word for pilots of 747-8’s or
other 747 types currently flying. It wants to hire and train for its operation for an unannounced 747-8F fleet expansion. It may be ready to compete in the freight
business. A conservative estimation for a Qatar 747-8F order is for a baker’s
dozen (including the two just ordered in July) could be coming during the Dubai airshow as it ramps up hiring and
training 747-8F’s pilot and crews for its impending freight business.
From Qatar Website: http://www.qrcargo.com/ourfleet
Qatar is light on freight aircraft on order and only has four-777-F and two 747-8F for a backlog order. It list one 747-F in its current fleet. The freight tools for Qatar consist of twelve 777-F's and eight A330-F's. Replacing and expanding its freight fleet is a move it may do as it will invest and then compete with other freight haulers in the world.
Qatar has more Airbus product than Boeing product in its fleet, but the order book for Qatar favors Boeing at this time.
Hiring pilots and crews in the fall before the Dubai Airshow
starts the conversation of what to expect in the startling announcements category
during the Dubai Airshow. Emirates is holding its purchase cards close to its chest. The
stirrings are evident something big will happen in November. This missing piece
of this puzzle is, how long will it take Boeing to deliver a few 747-8F freighters
for a newly formed Qatar crew just hired from its recent Job postings?
Sunday, August 13, 2017
The Final Chapter Of Demand Number 10: A Summary Of Things To Come
What this booklet was to accomplish for addressing 10 thought provoking
subject matters from a passenger perspective, and why the aviation industry
straddles so many different customer types. The customer types have many
opposing objectives as well as many common goals within its industry. A Boeing
perspective has a clear vision of its commercial aircraft producing function and
must compete in the field with its airline customers.
Mission/Vision provided from:
“Boeing Commercial
Airplanes is committed to being the leader in commercial aviation by offering
airplanes and services that deliver superior design, efficiency and value to
our customers and a superior flying experience to their customers. Today, there
are more than 10,000 Boeing commercial jetliners in service; airplanes that fly
farther on less fuel, airplanes that reduce airport noise and emissions,
airplanes that provide passenger-preferred comfort while delivering superior
bottom-line performance to operators. Leadership for today and tomorrow. That's
a better way to fly.”
Judging briefly what this tells this presentation, Boeing is
strongly in it with this statement,…
“while delivering superior bottom-line performance to operators. Leadership for today and tomorrow. That's a better way to fly.”
“while delivering superior bottom-line performance to operators. Leadership for today and tomorrow. That's a better way to fly.”
Below, is a recognition to
its airline customer while it structures its mission towards for that customer while giving an inference to the travel passengers.
“Boeing Commercial
Airplanes is committed to being the leader in commercial aviation by
offering airplanes and services that deliver superior design, efficiency and
value to our customers and a superior flying experience to their
customers.”
The superior flying condition for its passenger customer is
affected by an airline’s own goals in the service and capacity areas. Boeing
provides an over-all superior environment and advanced technology for
passengers. Where the airline controls the passenger configurations for its own
profitability and business success. Once again the passenger controls very
little demand on its aviation ride.
It is better observed where Boeing has constructed many options
for an airline’s consideration. When the airline has a business plan, Boeing
commercial airplane flexibility is a big tool box for it to purchase its product. The airline can simply buy seats, adjust colors and
offer amenities for which a Boeing produce airplane can offer. Boeing would diminish its product selling capacity to an airline customer, if it controlled airline
configuration for the sake of the passenger. Boeing only offers possibilities
for future passengers of an airline. There is a separation from the
manufacturer and passenger at this point. Boeing sells the ability to do many
things for any perspective passenger, but leaves that decision to its airline
customer.
Every time a passenger complains about a 787 experience
because it was too cramped, it becomes an issue of the airline and not the Boeing
787. ANA, Boeing's first customer in delivery, used the 787-8 by only installing an
8 across configuration in the main cabin. ANA established a configuration for
its 787-8 with 8 across economy seating for 180. The airplane capacity has
about 222 seats in two classes. They were on to something as an airline
customer to Boeing. The manufacturer always said the 787 was design for 8
across seating but had the ability for 9 across seating for which a preponderance of
787’s goes 9 across in the economy section.
The final say for the airline culture, if passengers demand cheap tickets, then it has lost its demand power. If airlines configures beyond the
standard design constraints, it cannot blame Boeing. If Boeing provides so many options for idle hands, it has provided enough rope to hang itself.
What is coming is meat hook seating for cheap tickets that can fly 9,000 miles leaving a smaller carbon footprint.
The Culture Of Demand Chapter 9: The Powerless Passenger Can Demand?
The manufacturer and the airline controls ticket prices for
what is provided, all the passenger can do is shop cheap airline tickets
online. The limits of passenger demand is from what flight outbound has the
cheapest seat and then it must suffer its outcome because trains and buses are
pure torture and not convenient for world travel.
Premium Economy Class seats for former Business Class passengers.
The passenger pushes an airline by not filling an airplane
up on a particular route. If the airline can’t fill its seats regularly, it
will eventually cancel the route offered, and the passenger then must find a plan “B” for
its travel options. The airline is a groping monster looking for a way to make
money for its stockholders. If it can’t cram passengers on-board, then it will
cancel the offer entirely. Passengers remain glued to ticket price in the process, and has
little to do in a product demand participation.
Most airlines want to upgrade
its business class at the expense of a first class section. So the wealthy
passenger who may look at price for bragging rights within its own friends circle has lost its
power of demand for a sensible ticket deal and has been downgraded to business
class offering. Where the business class is downgraded and enticed into Premium Economy and so forth.
Once again passenger demand has little power in commercial
aviation. Most manufacturing giants of aircraft brag about three metrics,
flight range, customer capacity and fuel efficiency. Airbus has gone five
inches wider than Boeing, and markets that point as the main reason to fly with an XWB Airbus. What does 5” really mean to the passengers? Start with dividing a 9 seat
row and duo aisles by 5 inches. These eleven units mentioned are from the 9 seats
and two aisles and can amount to an average of .45 inches in expansion width for each
seat or aisle width for the equation. A 16.5 inch wide seat on a 787 could also be about
17 inches wide seat on an Airbus A-350. A 20 inch wide aisle on a 787 can also be a
20.45 inch wide aisle on an Airbus A350. It amounts to finger's width advantage
for the Airbus for each passenger. Don’t even talk to Airbus about having 8 across seating. It about the number of passengers it loads on its “extra-wide-body”
aircraft.
Boeing with the 787 dynamic went for efficiency improvement
at every corner and remained resolute that it built the 787 for the passenger's travel senses when applying every technology it could muster. Electronic lights, dim-able large windows,
and LED lights to name a few. They pioneered breathable air with a 6,000 foot
cabin pressure rather than having a 8,000 foot cabin atmosphere. However, they
had Airbus at every corner so Airbus went wider than Boeing in its medium wide
body.
Boeing also is offering the 777X by 2020. It will be wider
than either the Boeing 787 or Airbus A350. The passenger reward for this feat
could be 10 across seating by some airlines. The passenger will have no say with this airline demand, because both manufacturers are playing the customer card with the airlines, presenting a profit machine based on seats possible. It won’t be
a manufacturer problem but an airline problem for how many seats it orders up
for its delivery aircraft. Needing to go to Australia for the lowest cost is a
passenger problem. The Airline has to pay for the airplane costing $350 million, so the passenger must pay for this large flying and seating arena. Once
again if a passenger needs to get there, they will pay and that’s the airline’s
demand. The manufacturer once again is in the business to sell a profit machine
pleasing both the airline and its passengers. It falls on the airline to stuff
how many seats in each aircraft delivered, and it’s the passenger who demands
a low ticket price.
The passenger surrenders its demand power in place of a low ticket price.
An extra wide 5 inches in the cabin is pure marketing genius which the customer won’t
analyze when looking at its ticket receipt. Airbus has done an excellent job of
a knock-off of the 787 with its A350. When in fact both types are once again, just "profit machines" for stockholders. There is a point in this discussion
passengers are just lemmings lured to the edge, with who has what for a
travel pleasure at the lowest cost, and this idea trickles down into the single
aisle market.
Saturday, August 12, 2017
The Culture Of Demand Chapter 8: Sit Right Here
Commercial aviation has become something as comfortable as a huge stadium bleacher with its seats. Sometimes over 100,000 fans cram their posteriors between two parallel
lines with a row and number painted between the lines. The much vaunted mid
field seats on the lower decks go for $100 a seat in any ordinary event going from left to
right. The top row of the stadium with the same seat spacing may go for $50
since it is so far from the field of play. What fun everyone had standing the whole time length of the match. Sitting was not an option. The posterior may be only 14”
wide when seated but the shoulders may go for 30” across. The stadium space
goes for about 16” wide as if it creates a vertical space 16” wide. People may have to stand at an angle facing the field. Going to a game with your
significant other fan can stand in a somewhat side-ways layering half the torso
behind the person sitting next to you. Fans often fake turning and talking to
someone behind them when in fact they are readjusting for the next play since
the person(s) in front of them have suddenly blocked the view.
Stadium cushion - No dimension greater than 13.5" x 12" x 14.5"
Stadium cushion - No dimension greater than 13.5" x 12" x 14.5"

The culture accepts the twist and turns at a stadium event
as if it was worth every penny being there at least to be seen either by
others or on TV. The airlines have it all wrong in its seating scheme. They too
need to go more than 16.5” wide for the posterior and then on three seat row allow the
shoulders of the outside seats expand behind the middle seat passenger. A
slight stagger in seating is needed much like the stadium twist or moving the
arm around the person next to the fan to make more room in the 16” vertical space
available.
Airlines think vertically. A 16.5” seat bottom should hold its
30”+ wide shoulders at the top of the seat, hence a stadium twist for the
window seat passenger, and half a shoulder’s width sticking out on the other side into
the aisle. The passenger seated in the middle just folds its arms in surrender
until the snack cart flies by, then all he** breaks out including losing your
nuts when trying to open the snack wrapper. Ever had a cola snort up your nose?
If so, you have either been to a stadium event or flown on an airplane.
Body bloat may change from passenger to passenger but the
smallest frame in a row may have the same horizontal dimension of a larger passenger. 16.5" wide seats is not a good linear solution. People have taken its stadium experience
and boarded airplanes without the promise of entertainment. Standing on an
airplane will be the final straw for passengers if airlines don’t stop the
nonsense. Should the industry have a seat law?
One way to stop the seat silliness is through the
manufacturer. It must build airplanes that can only have seat spacing for people
who don’t like touching. The airline who tries to cram more in less space would
violate the certification of the airplane. In this case example; a 787-8 would
be certified for 240 seats and not exceed the limit. The 787-9 would be
certified for 290 seats and no more. City safety inspectors do it to restaurants
as I sat at a diner recently, a sign said, “maximum occupancy 78 persons”. I know
it’s a fire code or something like that, but planes do catch on fire. A certification process would have to set a
standard from square footage of the seating area on an airline. Bring the
social engineers, and medical people to determine the non-touching area needed and
a pitch which prevents deep vein thrombosis on a long ride. Even though a
passengers has a great time at a stadium event, airline travel in a tube smaller
than the men’s room at the stadium, is inhumane. If narrow minded seats do not allow a person
to open up a snack wrapper on a long trip, then I'm not going.
Friday, August 11, 2017
Boeing Backlog Report In Units and $$
A new feature is looking at Boeing Cash Reserve through its backlog through list prices. No actual amount can be counted until it delivers an airplane. However, the potential cash value at list price indicts what it could receive as it delivers each type at list price.
Boeing Backlog Report:
Boeing Backlog Report:
The Culture Of Demand Chapter 7: Leadership Creates Demand Everywhere
The twist and turns of who is leading whom is the saga of
every going concern. Boeing’s business history has had it all and found out
what works and what doesn’t work. Listing all of Boeing’s past leaders would be
an exercise for the reader or the writer but this story is about a
philosophical perspective and will discuss in general terms using one of Boeing’s pst leaders named, Alan Mulally.
Wikipedia reports this on Alan Mulally:
“Mulally was hired by Boeing immediately out of
college in 1969 as an engineer. He held a number of engineering and program management positions,
making contributions to the Boeing
727, 737, 747, 757, 767 and Boeing
777 projects. He led the cockpit design team on the 757/767
project. Its revolutionary design featured the first all-digital flight deck in
a commercial aircraft, the first two-man crew for long range aircraft, and a
common type rating for pilots on two different aircraft. He worked on the 777 program first as director of engineering and, from
September 1992, as vice-president and general manager.”
He retired from Ford Motor Company as its CEO in 2014. He led
Ford to a resurgence. He led Boeing on everything during the first decade of
the 2000’s as provided briefly above. So what’s the magic of Alan Mulally? He
was an engineer in an engineering world. There are different type’s industrial
leaders. Those coming from the field of work experience, the
accountants, and those trained as an example, engineers, in a specialty like aerospace.
Boeing was in the
midst of “business storm" as early in the first decade of this century. The
conventional wisdom said, "have an accountant as your leader and you will prosper
as a company." Others say, "have a financial wizard and you will prosper, and
finally the 911 call goes out and says get me somebody who knows what we are doing!"
Boeing went through these stages before settling in on Alan
Mulally as its leader and then promptly lost him to a dying Ford Motor Company
who is became a leader today in the auto industry while customers came flocking to Ford
in droves. A "Sea Change" happened and it was part in due to an Engineer and partly due
to Alan Mulally a Leader.
Demand for your product starts at a company's head, and Boeing
had lost its head to financial metrics. The engineer wants a work bench or a
cad. They talk to people who have grips about what works and what doesn’t. An
engineer also has a vision of what could be made and what shouldn’t be made.
Alan Mulally is an engineer. The problem here they ignore costs and only want a
positive outcome regardless of costs. In comes the accountant leader who knows
how to measure progress into oblivion with financial efficiency of a Scrooge.
In Boeing’s case an airplane begins to look like a suit an accountant would
wear. They look at every piece of the program's puzzle. If an electronic switch costs too much, then find a cheaper switch and give up some of
the first switches capability.
The problem becomes a conundrum between those who can invent
and those who will prevent. Alan Mulally, threaded the needle leading with an inventor’s
attitude. Accountants before Mulally had failed to save the company from loss.
However, Alan was on the leading edge of spending Boeing’s capital through all
its programs, including the 787 project.
Accountants had to find a way towards
financial efficiency with an Engineer at the helm. Going the route of miser
loses and going the route of a dreamer loses. Hence, a Dreamliner made a $30
Billion deferred costs pit. A balance had to be found and Boeing missed the
balance between the two worlds until success could be found with its products.
The legacy Alan Mulally leaves is a company who does not
want another moon shot like the 787, but it needs to keep pace with its obvious market demand or just get out of making airplanes when it can’t keep up with
that market demand. Both Ford and Boeing have retained much of what Alan
Mulally envisioned but they both keep a wary eye on over-doing it with its customers.
Both accountants and engineers can make a good or a great leader from its own expertise, but the best results come from a leader having the talent from within themselves
in spite of their own subject matter training.
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