Re:Delays in Boeing Max Return Began with Near-Crash in Simu...
by joe_the_user on Friday November 08, 2019 @03:46PM
(#21486534)
People forget a project was late if it succeeds, they never forget a project on time that failed because it was rushed, buggy and not polished production.
The problem is the 737 Max was hustled quickly to market to beat airbus and especially to offer a "drop in replacement" to existing earlier generation 737. Boeing would have definitely lost market share if they hadn't gotten their plane out then.
Choosing technical debt involves economic logic for today's marketplace. I suspect the real problem is companies wind-up deluded by their choice - to hustle the 737 Max to market, Boeing had to pretend is wasn't a, uh, piece of crap. Or not a piece of crap but a terrible mix of high tech and low compromises. And this pretending had to go through the whole enterprise. The marching order couldn't be "we'll add few more stiches on this Frankstein and hope the guts don't spill out", they had to be "this will be one more product of Boeing excellence" and everyone either believes or acts like they do. and this situation, combined with the huge investment involved, makes cutting losses very hard.
The problem is the 737 Max was hustled quickly to market to beat airbus and especially to offer a "drop in replacement" to existing earlier generation 737. Boeing would have definitely lost market share if they hadn't gotten their plane out then.
Choosing technical debt involves economic logic for today's marketplace. I suspect the real problem is companies wind-up deluded by their choice - to hustle the 737 Max to market, Boeing had to pretend is wasn't a, uh, piece of crap. Or not a piece of crap but a terrible mix of high tech and low compromises. And this pretending had to go through the whole enterprise. The marching order couldn't be "we'll add few more stiches on this Frankstein and hope the guts don't spill out", they had to be "this will be one more product of Boeing excellence" and everyone either believes or acts like they do. and this situation, combined with the huge investment involved, makes cutting losses very hard.