Leeham News and Analysis
There's more to real news than a news release.
Leeham News and Analysis
- Boeing unlikely to meet FAA’s 90-day deadline for new safety program April 18, 2024
- Focus on quality not slowing innovation, says GKN April 18, 2024
- Boeing defends 787, 777 against whistleblower charges April 17, 2024
- Dissecting Boeing CEO’s statement next new airplane will cost $50bn April 15, 2024
- Bjorn’s Corner: New engine development. Part 3. Propulsive efficiency April 12, 2024
Polling on Boeing
With the siting of 787 Line 2 in Charleston, we’ve created several polls to gauge opinion. These are unscientific, to be sure: anyone can vote, as opposed to a specified cross-section of respondents. But we think the results will be interesting nonetheless.
The polls are after the jump.
1. Will Boeing leave Washington?
Many months ago we had a poll asking if Boeing would leave Washington and when. The results then were: No, 19%; Only the 737 replacement, 17%; By 2015, 16%; Only 787 Line 2, 16%; By 2020, 11%; Only the 777 replacement, 8%; and By 2010, 3%. Here is a new poll.
2. Was Everett seriously considered?
There is great debate whether Boeing seriously considered Everett to put 787 Line 2. Boeing says yes; the IAM says no; Patty Murray’s office says No; Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) says yes. What do you say?
3. Who is to blame?
Finger-pointing started even before Boeing’s decision was announced. Boeing said going into the talks with the IAM that the union had to give a no-strike agreement and do other things to lane Line 2 for Everett. The union says Boeing had no intention of negotiating and talks were a sham. What do you think?
4. Did Washington do enough to land Line 2?
The ink wasn’t dry on the Boeing press release announcing Charleston when Washington State Republicans denounced Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire and the Democratic Legislature for losing the line because they didn’t call a special session to pony up more incentives for Boeing, and charged that the State’s business climate isn’t friendly to Boeing. Boeing all along told Gregoire, local elected officials and Members of Congress that incentives and the business climate were the issues, but that labor was. Right up until they weren’t that is: at the last minute, Boeing negotiated incentives from South Carolina. What do you think?
5. Tennis-Shoe Mom is hoppin’ mad
US Sen. Patty Murray, Washington’s senior senator and up to now Boeing’s biggest booster in the US Senate, believes Boeing never intended to locate Line 2 in Everett. She says now that she will limit her support for Boeing on non-Washington issues, like the California-based C-17. Is this a permanent shift in her thinking or just a temporary snit?
6. Where’s Norm?
US Rep. Norm Dicks is Boeing’s biggest supporter in the House of Representatives. He can’t keep his mouth shut when it comes to All Issues Boeing. But on this issue, he has been strangely silent. He hasn’t said a word that we’ve seen. Dicks is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee and others for ethics violations, and he issued a denial to the complaints, so we know he is alive and well. But where is Norm on this one?
7. Where will the 737 and 777 replacement airplanes be built?
Well before Boeing decided to put Line 2 in Charleston, some were predicting that the replacement airplanes for the 737 and 777 will be built outside Washington. What do you think?
8. What should Washington do next?
Before Boeing announced its decision, some observers and state officials began advocating that it’s time the State decouple from Boeing and begin actively seeking to recruit other aerospace companies to Washington and other lines of business besides commercial aerospace. Some of these advocates believe the time has come to invite Boeing’s direct competitors in commercial and defense into the state. What do you think?
9. Who should Washington recuit?
See poll #8 for explanation.
10. What type of aerospace should Washington recruit?
See poll #8 for explanation.
11. When will the 787 fly and be delivered?
Painfully, the 787 has undergone six delays and Boeing says the first flight will be something this quarter and first delivery in 4Q2010. What do you think?
Watch for our post mortem to be posted Monday, Nov. 2, on the entire Line 2 story.
Boeing has a second rate management and is moving work to a second rate (cheaper) work force in South Carolina passing thru on their way to Mexico.
Global Capitalism means cheap labor and poor quality for obsene profits!…and no responsibility!