Boeing reshuffles top engineers amid 737 MAX crisis

[webfact]

Boeing reshuffles top engineers amid 737 MAX crisis

By Eric M. Johnson

 

FILE PHOTO: An American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 flight from Los Angeles approaches for landing at Reagan National Airport shortly after an announcement was made by the FAA that the planes were being grounded by the United States in Washington, U.S. March 13, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

 

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Boeing Co's commercial airplane division, facing its biggest crisis in years following deadly crashes of its flagship 737 MAX aircraft, has brought in a new vice president of engineering while dedicating another top executive to the aircraft investigations, a company email showed on Tuesday.

 

The management reshuffle comes as Europe and Canada said they would seek their own guarantees over the safety of Boeing's 737 MAX, further complicating plans to get the aircraft flying worldwide after they were grounded in the wake of crashes that killed more than 300 people.

 

John Hamilton, formerly both vice president and chief engineer in Boeing's Commercial Airplanes division, will focus solely on the role of chief engineer, the unit's Chief Executive Officer Kevin McAllister told employees on Tuesday in an email seen by Reuters.

 

"This will allow him to fully dedicate his attention to the ongoing accident investigations," McAllister said, adding that the staffing changes were needed as "we prioritize and bring on additional resources for the ongoing accident investigations."

 

Lynne Hopper - who previously led Test & Evaluation in Boeing's Engineering, Test & Technology group - has been named vice president of Engineering, McAllister said.

 

A Boeing spokesman declined to comment but confirmed the authenticity of the email.

 

The shakeup showed how the world's largest planemaker was freeing up engineering resources as it faces scrutiny during crash investigations while also maintaining production of its money-spinning 737 single-aisle aircrafts.

 

Previously, Hamilton served as the vice president of engineering for Boeing Commercial Airplanes from April 2016 through March 2019, according to a biography on Boeing's website.

 

From July 2013 through March 2016, Hamilton served as the vice president of Safety, Security and Compliance and oversaw the Commercial Airplanes Organization Designation Authorization - a program that takes on specific safety certification duties on behalf of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

 

Lawmakers and safety experts are questioning how thoroughly regulators vetted the MAX model and how well pilots were trained on new features.

 

For now, global regulators have grounded the existing fleet of more than 300 MAX aircraft, and deliveries of nearly 5,000 more - worth well over $500 billion - are on hold. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2Hv2btC)

 

Boeing shares rose 0.3 percent on Tuesday, to close at $373.43. They are still down more than 11 percent since the crash in Ethiopia, wiping out over $25 billion off its market share.

 

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-03-20

[ezzra]

Akin to rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic...

[Cryingdick]

7 minutes ago, ezzra said:

Akin to rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic...

 

You have to be kidding. If BA would fail the entire airline industry worldwide would go into the ground with it, along with the tourism industry.

[KarlS]

5 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

 

You have to be kidding. If BA would fail the entire airline industry worldwide would go into the ground with it, along with the tourism industry.

BA? 

[fisherd3]

They did not retrain the pilots because it cost too much and would hit sales $$$$$$x

[stevenl]

29 minutes ago, webfact said:

Lawmakers and safety experts are questioning how thoroughly regulators vetted the MAX model and how well pilots were trained on new features.

Yes, was only a matter of time till that happened, followed by other countries don't trusting the FAA on this anymore. Hence the action from other countries before the USA, and hence "Europe and Canada said they would seek their own guarantees over the safety of Boeing's 737 MAX'.

It seems obvious the FAA can not be trusted on this anymore.

[lannarebirth]

4 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Yes, was only a matter of time till that happened, followed by other countries don't trusting the FAA on this anymore. Hence the action from other countries before the USA, and hence "Europe and Canada said they would seek their own guarantees over the safety of Boeing's 737 MAX'.

It seems obvious the FAA can not be trusted on this anymore.

The NTSB is the gold standard of investigative agencies. Their report will pull no punches and be both believed and acted upon by everyone.

[Cryingdick]

12 minutes ago, KarlS said:

BA? 

 

Sorry that is the stock symbol for Boeing. I write a lot on other sites that we commonly use tickers.

[metisdead]

A troll post and a reply has been removed. 

[Basil B]

4 hours ago, lannarebirth said:

The NTSB is the gold standard of investigative agencies. Their report will pull no punches and be both believed and acted upon by everyone.

Please read up on the Flight UA811 cover up...

[Mattd]

5 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

 

You have to be kidding. If BA would fail the entire airline industry worldwide would go into the ground with it, along with the tourism industry.

There is little chance of Boeing going under from this, however they do have and should answer to some serious questions, of that there is no doubt.

The certification of this plane was a little dodgy to say the least, it was seemingly rushed through and some corners were intentionally cut, investigations will tell if this is an attributable factor to the loss of lives.

What it does highlight IMHO is that profit can and does get in the way of safety.

There are a number of news reports out there that verify that Boeing did not adequately inform the airline industry about the major changes to the plane from previous versions, pilots were flying it without full knowledge of the anti-stall system and how it works, plus there isn't enough redundancy with the sensors that trigger the anti-stall.

[Ulic]

4 hours ago, stevenl said:

Yes, was only a matter of time till that happened, followed by other countries don't trusting the FAA on this anymore. Hence the action from other countries before the USA, and hence "Europe and Canada said they would seek their own guarantees over the safety of Boeing's 737 MAX'.

It seems obvious the FAA can not be trusted on this anymore.

 

4 hours ago, lannarebirth said:

The NTSB is the gold standard of investigative agencies. Their report will pull no punches and be both believed and acted upon by everyone.

Agree 100%. The FAA is far too close to Boeing and business. Just bootlickers for Boeing. The NTSB is the investigative gold standard and pulls no punches. Manufactures, pilots, airline maintenance and pilot training will all be put under the microscope and a clear picture will emerge as to exactly what happened, all in an effort to correct deficiencies and make the industry safer.

[Aussieroaming]

5 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

 

You have to be kidding. If BA would fail the entire airline industry worldwide would go into the ground with it, along with the tourism industry.

Yes British Airways is improving

[Humpy]

One wonders why the need for a 'gizzmo' to right the aircraft at the stall and beyond.= and no means of overriding the system, that is if the system had an override ! Airliners have managed without this 'gizzmo' for many many years. Two highly trained and highly paid pilots up front can monitor speed and angle of climb and take steps to correct as necessary . Audible and 'control column  shake' warnings have been fitted to many aircraft for years in case the pilots were distracted. Keep it simple Boeing .

 

[balo]

Whatever happens we will never get the 300 souls back, they should have lived until old age, but thanks to Boeing they are now dust.  

 

I think the investigation will reveal what has already been discussed, and ordinary passengers will think twice before flying with Boeing MAX and other aircrafts.  Airbus on the other hand will get more business.  

 

Edited March 20, 2019 by balo

[mickymouse1]

Will that solve the problem? T.May would have reshuffled her Cabinet then???? naughty girl, did not listen to his negotiation tips, lamented the tramp .

I always fly Airbus if possible. ????

[Chomper Higgot]

Reshuffle at Boeing, meanwhile the FAA has been headless for over a year on account of Trump sulking and refusing to make an appointment to the post after his nomination of his own pilot to the job was rejected.

 

[Jonnapat]

6 hours ago, fisherd3 said:

They did not retrain the pilots because it cost too much and would hit sales $$$$$$x

Always the little matter of cash

[toenail]

According to various comments from experienced pilots, they point to a total  lack of training pilots for this new automatic-pilot program.  As they say, safety is their number 1 concern. And Boeing cannot expect all pilots to understand some new instruction that is shoved in the middle of an instruction book- How many languages would this manual be translated in?  

Plus I think Boeing’s close relationship with FAA hindered the “concern” button. 

[VocalNeal]

1 hour ago, Humpy said:

One wonders why the need for a 'gizzmo' to right the aircraft at the stall and beyond.= and no means of overriding the system, that is if the system had an override ! 

My understanding is that in order to get the new fuel efficient engines to fit they had to move them forward and up a bit. This increased the moment and can cause the aircraft to rotate upwards, high angle of attack, under high power manoeuvres, like take off and climbing.

[Burma Bill]

7 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

 

You have to be kidding. If BA would fail the entire airline industry worldwide would go into the ground with it, along with the tourism industry.

Rubbish - there are still several other "players" in the industry such as AIRBUS, BOMBARDIER, ATR and Russian ones.

[Burma Bill]

Beginning to look as if the fault lies with Boeing. If so, the company faces millions and millions of dollars in compensation for all the victims of the Lion Air and Ethiopian flights.

[metisdead]

A troll post has been removed. 

[Grouse]

Boeing to face criminal charges

 

https://dailycaller.com/2019/03/18/justice-department-boeing-737-max/

Edited March 20, 2019 by metisdead
Moderator's comment edited out.

[jpinx]

10 hours ago, lannarebirth said:

The NTSB is the gold standard of investigative agencies. Their report will pull no punches and be both believed and acted upon by everyone.

Ya think????

[KhunBENQ]

4 hours ago, toenail said:

Plus I think Boeing’s close relationship with FAA hindered the “concern” button. 

Cautious wording.

What I understand is, that the FAA delegated substantial parts of the certification to engineers nominated by Boeing.

Self certification, what you always dreamed of.

And the very close relation of the Boeing boss to POTUS was good enough to avoid/delay grounding in the US.

 

Reshuffle now and soon heads have to roll.

Criminal investigation already initiated.

Edited March 20, 2019 by KhunBENQ

[KhunBENQ]

3 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

Rubbish - there are still several other "players" in the industry such as AIRBUS, BOMBARDIER, ATR and Russian ones.

Boeing has about 5000(!) orders in the book for 737 MAX alone.

Airbus' order books full to the end of the decade.

China plans to build about 400(!) new airports in the next 15 years or so.

None of the above could fill the gap.

 

Bombardier aerospace now 50.01% owned by Airbus.

Revenue about 10% of Boeing.

One model relabeled A220.

Edited March 20, 2019 by KhunBENQ

[Elkski]

I wonder if internal emails will emerge of Boeing engineers expressing concerns on this.  I can't imagine no one thought of this failure mode.    Boeing knew sales would be related to the cost of training all the flight crews so on purpose sold it this way.    Greed!

I read yesterday the black box on the Lion air flight did 26 up down porpoise cycles before going in.  Just think of the poor people on board.    

[Grouse]

A great company's reputation can be destroyed very quickly by poor management decisions.

 

I recall being told that it takes a mother three decades to make a man out of her son; but it takes a woman only three minutes to make a fool out of him.

 

Boeing should have erred on the side of caution. They may have severely damaged their reputation.

[jpinx]

3 minutes ago, Grouse said:

A great company's reputation can be destroyed very quickly by poor management decisions.

 

I recall being told that it takes a mother three decades to make a man out of her son; but it takes a woman only three minutes to make a fool out of him.

 

Boeing should have erred on the side of caution. They may have severely damaged their reputation.

Not only Boeing, but the FAA were complicit in allowing certification by grandfathering the type, even though there were much greater differences between the MAX and prior types.