Most (all) of them will have been sold already, but not delivered. The way aircraft are bought is not a simple "pay on delivery", but a series of staged payments, starting when the order is place, followed by key points during construction. Depending on the particular delivery contract there could be as little as 5% of the total agreed price to pay on some of the completed aircraft, while for those further back in the manufacturing process only 5% may have already been paid. Nothing in airline financing is easy - it's all designed to keep the lawyers and accountants in jobs.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

I'm starting to wonder if Boeing will be able to survive under the current conditions and that's not just because of their 737 MAX problems. With major airlines mothballing large numbers of aircraft due to this coronavirus and lack of demand forcing them to downsize their fleets while many aircraft storage companies are in a rush to expand facilities all over the world to accommodate all those planes so who are Boeing going to find to sell all those new planes to?

Boeing 737 MAX certification flight tests to begin on Monday

SEATTLE/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pilots and test crew members from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing Co (BA.N) are slated to begin a three-day certification test campaign for the 737 MAX on Monday, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

...

The rigors of the test campaign go beyond previous Boeing test flights, completed in a matter of hours on a single day, industry sources say.

FAA orders fix for engine covers of Boeing 737 Max planes

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. safety officials will require all Boeing 737 Max airliners to be inspected for a manufacturing defect on engine coverings that they say could lead to loss of power during flights.

Inspections and repairs, if needed, will be required before the grounded planes are allowed to fly again, according to a notice posted Wednesday by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The problem is not related to the flight-control system that pushed planes into nosedives before two deadly Max crashes. The crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed 346 people.

However, it is another blow to Boeing’s safety reputation.
...

The FAA estimated the work could take five to 12 hours per plane. It said Boeing will cover all costs because the planes are still under warranty.

The FAA order affects 128 Max jets registered to U.S. airlines American, Southwest and United.

[quote]Highly damning.

All just a 'normal' week for Boeing?

Your life may well depend on that...


All in our deadly greedy world,[/quote Not Boeing's fault, they were just following the legally mandated fiduciary law.
The concept sprung out of the highly respected London School of Economics. Until congress steps in and changes the law that will be business as usual for all publicly held companies.

Surely it is older that the LSE, isn't it within English Common Law or the Court of Chancery?

[quote]Highly damning.

All just a 'normal' week for Boeing?

Your life may well depend on that...


All in our deadly greedy world,[/quote Not Boeing's fault, they were just following the legally mandated fiduciary law.
The concept sprung out of the highly respected London School of Economics. Until congress steps in and changes the law that will be business as usual for all publicly held companies.

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A few more bits of Boeing news:


Lawmakers rip FAA for not disclosing documents on Boeing Max
wrote:

Senators of both parties lashed out at the Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday, accusing it of stonewalling their attempts to understand how the agency approved a Boeing jet that later suffered two deadly crashes and whether it retaliates against whistleblowers...

Wicker said he holds Stephen Dickson, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the FAA, personally responsible for creating an adversarial relationship with Congress. “It is hard not to conclude your team at the FAA has deliberately attempted to keep us in the dark,” Wicker told Dickson during a committee hearing.

Dickson disputed Wicker's description of the FAA, but he promised “to redouble our efforts”...

Really!... They really said that!...

I find their lack of seriousness very disturbing...



More debris found on a new Boeing tanker
wrote:

Delivery of a Boeing Co. KC-46 tanker has been delayed after another incident of debris found on the aircraft...

Boeing tried to amend bid after guidance from NASA official, raising concerns it received inside information
wrote:

... about a bid to win a contract potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars, the company attempted to amend its proposal past the deadline for doing so...

That raised alarm bells inside the space agency, where officials were concerned that Boeing was attempting to take advantage of inside information...

Boeing whistleblower alleges systemic problems with 737 Max
wrote:

A Boeing engineer who last year lodged an internal ethics complaint alleging serious shortcomings in development of the 737 Max has written to a U.S. Senate committee asserting that systemic problems with the jet’s design “must be fixed before the 737 Max is allowed to return to service.”...

... “However, given the numerous other known flaws in the airframe, it will be just a matter of time before another flight crew is overwhelmed by a design flaw known to Boeing and further lives are senselessly lost.”

He goes on to suggest similar shortcomings in the flight-control systems may affect the safety of Boeing’s forthcoming 777X...

... alleged that Boeing rejected his safety upgrades because of management’s focus on schedule and cost considerations and the insistence that anything that might require more pilot training would not be considered.

He also alleged that Boeing pushed regulators at the Federal Aviation Administration to relax certification requirements for the airplane, particularly in regard to the cockpit systems for alerting pilots that something is wrong inflight. Those systems on the Max have been under scrutiny because during the two fatal Max crashes that killed 346 people, pilots struggled to understand the cascade of warnings in their cockpits...

... “The 737 Max’s original certification was accomplished with hand-waving and deception to hide the numerous ways the 1960s-era design of the 737 does not meet current regulatory standards,”...

Highly damning.

All just a 'normal' week for Boeing?

Your life may well depend on that...


All in our deadly greedy world,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

This one is unusual and worrying that such parts can be lost in flight:

Swift Air B737 Lands With Tail Parts Missing


Quite a scary picture for what isn't there... An aircraft can too easily lose its skin from such damage.

Next comes the how and why...

(Note that is on an old Boeing 737 NG aircraft.)


All in our deadly greedy world,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

For a little more detail, see:

FAA response to 737 MAX crash report preserves Boeing’s big role in certifying its own planes
wrote:

... A former top FAA official, who asked not to be identified to protect his current role as a consultant on aviation safety matters, said the overall FAA response looks like “more of the same” — a determination to maintain its decades-long progression of doing less and less hands-on oversight and delegating more of that work to Boeing.

He pointed to the FAA’s future vision, outlined in 2017, of expanding the current delegation system further, an agency “transformation” that would see it set safety regulations in place but then leave it almost entirely to the manufacturer to find that its aircraft is in compliance.

In the new report, the former official said, “I don’t see anything suggesting that [the] FAA will reverse its determination to continue to disengage from certification.”

All in our continuing deadly greedy world,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

This to my mind and personal view is just unforgivably gobsmacking!


Read the wording carefully:

FAA Response to 737 MAX Crash Report Preserves Boeing’s Big Role in Certifying its Own Planes


So, for my personal totally ignorant interpretation of that:

• Business as usual keeping the deadly conflicts of interest;
  
• The existing procedures work yet didn't avert disaster so no one is at fault;
  
• Vague reassurances about reviewing how pilots respond to emergencies...
  

So... Nothing useful learned and the FAA is relying on a PR whitewash?

All forced by?:

The FAA welcomed that finding and noted that “application of new airworthiness standards, in some circumstances, can increase costs.” The current system for certifying a derivative airplane like the MAX, “balances these economic and safety outcomes,” the FAA report states.

Really?!!! For the Boeing 737 MAX examples for example, totally ignoring the potentially catastrophically fatal wiring and lack of flight computer redundant operation and single points of failure?

Note that it was such failures that are now known to have caused three fatal crashes... And others?




All in our deadly greedy world,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Here's an easily followed summary of the present state for the Boeing 737 Max:

YouTube: FAA Launches Investigation this Week
wrote:

The FAA is launching a NEW investigation into the Foreign Object Debris left in Half of all MAX jets fuel tanks, engines, and other sealed spaces. Employees may be doing this on purpose or in the least the morale is so bad at Boeing, nobody cares anymore...

Very interesting that the question is raised of whether the potentially deadly Foreign Object Debris found in over half of the 737 Max aircraft inspected after leaving the factory is possibly due to (disgruntled, overworked?) worker sabotage...

Whatever next?


All in our deadly greedy world,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
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... Last month, Boeing decided to separate 737 MAX wiring bundles that regulators had flagged as potentially dangerous...

A reminder that the same problem "potentially catastrophic failure" wiring is on the current 737 NG aircraft. Those are still flying...

See: Boeing to Separate Grounded 737 MAX Wiring Bundles


Any news for the 737 NG wiring bundles likewise getting fixed?


All in our deadly greedy world,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Meanwhile, the Boeing 737 Max stays grounded:


Boeing 737 MAX expected to remain grounded until at least August...
wrote:

... 737 MAX jet is expected to remain grounded until at least August as the manufacturer continues to grapple with software issues...

... One issue involves hypothetical faults in the flight control microprocessor, which could potentially lead to a loss of control known as a runaway stabilizer. The other issue could lead to disengagement of the autopilot feature during final approach...

... Last month, Boeing decided to separate 737 MAX wiring bundles that regulators had flagged as potentially dangerous...

... In February, Boeing said it would need a software update to address a 737 MAX indicator light issue. In January it disclosed a separate software issue relating to a power-up monitoring function. Boeing is also inspecting 737 MAX airplanes after it discovered foreign object debris in undelivered airplanes...

Boeing probed for quality-control lapses on 737 Max assembly line
wrote:

Boeing potentially faces far greater legal liability than previously known...

... faces criminal and civil scrutiny into years of widespread quality-control lapses on its 737 Max assembly line...

... DOJ prosecutors and FAA investigators also have been examining factory problems that raise red flags about the Chicago plane maker’s compliance with mandatory production rules and safeguards. Boeing found debris mistakenly left behind by workers in fuel tanks or other interior spaces of approximately half of the Max aircraft it inspected...

All in our deadly greedy world,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Will Boeing survive?

Meanwhile, Airbus' main rival Boeing is also battling another major crisis due to the year-long grounding of its 737 Max passenger jet, which had been its best selling plane.
On Saturday, the US aviation giant scrapped a $4.2bn (£3.4bn) tie-up with Brazil's Embraer. Some industry analysts saw the move as being triggered by the crises, although the company cited contractual reasons for the decision.

The modern model was created in The London School of Economics and perfected at the University of Chicago, think Milton Freedman, a brilliant mind with questionable assumptions.

However it is fixed in stare dices of the world in the 1770's and the law of the time when the King was still King.

A corporation is a grant from the King (government) to do any damn thing you want on the assumption that you are scratching the King's back.

The modern model was created in The London School of Economics and perfected at the University of Chicago, think Milton Freedman, a brilliant mind with questionable assumptions.

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Yes, and both those companies set ruthlessly greedy examples that forced government intervention to tidy up their greedy mess, all with great loss of life...

The government granted them license to act this way, in some ways it ever requires it; it is called "corporation"

Yes... We've got a lot of history and a lot of examples of that...

And supposedly we've moved onwards and away from the blood thirsty despots and kingdoms of old...

Time we updated our company rules to something more sustainable, less greedy, and less deadly?


All in our only one deadly greedy world,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

The Boeing malaise continues:


New document reveals significant fall from grace for Boeing’s space program
wrote:

...Since December, the company's space issues have also become more widely known following the failure of the company's Starliner capsule to successfully carry out a test flight to the International Space Station. NASA labelled this aborted mission, during which the spacecraft was nearly lost two times, a "high visibility close call." The company has agreed to perform a second test flight without crew to assure NASA of Starliner's safety.

But a new document released by NASA reveals the broader scope of Boeing's apparent decline...

Trump Promises U.S. Will Do 'Whatever is Necessary' to Help Boeing...
wrote:

... The president also said that the U.S. "can't let anything happen to Boeing."

"It's, you know, got so much potential," he said.

The Treasury Department set aside up to $17 billion in aid for Boeing...

... Trump sidestepped a question about whether the aerospace company could be penalized for laying off its workforce after receiving the aid...

All an executive greedy game of too big to be allowed to fail?


All in our only one deadly greedy world,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Yes, and both those companies set ruthlessly greedy examples that forced government intervention to tidy up their greedy mess, all with great loss of life...

The government granted them license to act this way, in some ways it ever requires it; it is called "corporation"

Martin as long as fiduciary responsibility is the law public corporations have to behave that way.
Corporations can trace their roots to Crown charter companies such as the East India company and the Hudson's Bay company.
The Crown granted them special privileges in exchange for doing good work for the crown.
Today the state issues charters of incorporation with no reciprocal duties except to pay the taxes which they are unable to avoid.

Yes, and both those companies set ruthlessly greedy examples that forced government intervention to tidy up their greedy mess, all with great loss of life...

This is where we need to move on and bring in personal responsibility, with no anonymous hiding behind a company name, to check (stop) and balance the more egregious and deadly greed we seem to repeatedly suffer...


All in our deadly greedy world,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)