Boeing's Starliner Spacecraft Is 'go' for Astronaut Launch

Boeing's problems can't stop, won't stop (March 2024)
www.morningbrew.com

... Boeing has tapered its production of 737 planes while it gets its stuff together, leaving airlines with fewer aircraft.

Even with a slew of safety incidents that make Snakes on a Plane look tolerable and a host of airlines cutting capacity due to a lack of planes, the worst of Boeing's problems may still be ahead of it. ...

Southwest got the worst of it: The airline notorious for not being bookable on Google Flights exclusively flies Boeing 737 planes. Southwest said it planned to receive 58 of Boeing's 737 Max 8 planes but now expects just 46, and won't get any of the long-awaited Max 7 jets. As a result, it cut flight capacity plans and changed its financial outlook for the year.

Other shake-ups in the industry include ... United Airlines putting a pause on hiring pilots, Alaska Airlines saying its capacity for the year is in flux, and Ryanair lowering its passenger forecast"all because Boeing can't deliver planes. It's good news for Airbus, Boeing's biggest rival, which delivered 49 planes in February compared to Boeing's 27. ...

Southwest Airlines is ending service at four airports and laying off 2,000 employees
nashvillenow.us

... American Airlines and Southwest Airlines both lost money in the first quarter, and Southwest said Thursday it will curtail hiring and close operations at four airports.

Southwest expects to end this year with 2,000 fewer employees than at the beginning of the year.

Airlines are facing higher labor costs and delays in getting new planes from Boeing, limiting their ability to add more flights at a time of high travel demand. ...

[emphasis mine]

... Boeing's new spaceship has been cleared for its first-ever crewed liftoff. ...

Boeing says it will cut SLS workforce "due to external factors"
arstechnica.com

... On Thursday senior Boeing officials leading the Space Launch System program, including David Dutcher and Steve Snell, convened an all-hands meeting for the more than 1,000 employees who work on the rocket.

According to two people familiar with the meeting, the officials announced that there would be a significant number of layoffs and reassignments of people working on the program. They offered a handful of reasons for the cuts, including the fact that timelines for NASA's Artemis lunar missions that will use the SLS rocket are slipping to the right.

Later on Thursday, in a statement provided to Ars, a Boeing spokesperson confirmed the cuts: "Due to external factors unrelated to our program performance, Boeing is reviewing and adjusting current staffing levels on the Space Launch System program." ...

@#4

Would you want to be a crew member on that Boeing spacecraft?

Would you want to be a crew member on that Boeing spacecraft?

Wouldn't be boring. :-)

Would you want to be a crew member on that Boeing spacecraft?
#5 | POSTED BY LAMPLIGHTER AT 2024-04-26 12:54 AM | FLAG:

Absolutely. This is so much safer than the Space Shuttle.

Do you even know how much of it is Boeing? We're being informed, right? So we know the contractors like Aerodyne, Bigelow, Samsung, Collins...

At Boeing when one door closes, another one opens.

"This is so much safer than the Space Shuttle."

Time will tell. Space flight is inherently unsafe.

The shuttle flew 133 successful missions.

It took 25 missions before a fatal flaw destroyed Challenger and it's crew.

Time already told us. Capsules > Shuttles. Take a look at both and see if you can see why, all you need is a photo of each.

"We can't make planes right and need good PR. Let's go to space!" - boeing

"Time already told us."

The new ships had better be safer.

The shuttle original design was from the 60s.

I will reserve my judgement of the safety of the new ships until I see if they can make at least successful 25 flights before an accident.

" Capsules > Shuttles. "

Not when the booster explodes.

Gotta be honest...I have just under 3000 hours in a bomber built by Boeing, the last one of which rolled off the line in 1962.

That silly bitch got us home every time.

Another maybe interesting fact, for some. I'm Diamond Status with Delta. I have been for a while. I've got around 400k miles total on Delta. It's not uncommon for people to reach 1 million, or even 2-million-mile status with the airlines.

Based on my best assessment, over the fourteen years I was flying the B-52, I racked up around 880k miles, give or take 100k miles.

You guys go ahead. I'll watch from here.

The shuttle original design was from the 60s.

#12 | POSTED BY DONNERBOY AT 2024-04-26 01:31 PM | FLAG:

And yet the stack lives on in Artemis, except they fixed the fundamental design flaw by ditching the piggy back shuttle and returning to the ubiquitous capsule-on-top layout which can rocket itself to safety. There's already 4 capsules flying to space regularly, now 6 with Orion and Starliner moving from Developmental to Active status. Your arbitrary number is a bit silly, you didn't post like this when Dragon capsules went to orbit on, but Elon hadn't red pilled yet either.

"Your arbitrary number is a bit silly"

It's not arbitrary. As I said space flight is inherently dangerous. And you know that eventually there will be another tragic accident someday. The shuttle was designed in the late 60s and flew 25 missions before it finally failed to achieve orbit with a crew on board. It's reasonable to wonder if Boeing can beat that even with more advanced tech. Because fallible humans are involved.

But as I also said, time will tell.

"you didn't post like this when Dragon capsules went to orbit"

You actually remember what I posted about Dragon? I doubt that.

Dragon seems to been made to stand the test of time and has already made 30 flights though many of them are not manned. (Which is obviously safer)

Sit,

"Bigelow"

Did you know Robert Bigelow who founded Bigelow Aerospace once owned Skinwalker Range.

I also read Bigelow was given exotic metals to analyze and then provided parts for the ISS.

Hey BillJohnson here's something for you.

tanaorjewelry.com

"Your arbitrary number is a bit silly"
It's not arbitrary. As I said space flight is inherently dangerous. And you know that eventually there will be another tragic accident someday. The shuttle was designed in the late 60s and flew 25 missions before it finally failed to achieve orbit with a crew on board. It's reasonable to wonder if Boeing can beat that even with more advanced tech. Because fallible humans are involved.
But as I also said, time will tell.
#17 | Posted by donnerboy at 2024-04-26 02:38 PM

Their tiny shuttles run every day for decades.

They look identical to the larger ones that carry humans.

The tech appears to be stopped in the 1960's.

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#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-04-26 12:41 AM
My first goal for Boeing ... produce a plane that does not fall apart in mid-air. In other words, get your act together.
After Boeing has been able to accomplish that, then I will entertain their efforts into other areas.

Most aircraft by Boeing have a useful lifetime span above 25-30 years, so the engineering of the planes is top notch. Maintenance by some of the airlines' crews, on the other hand, may leave to be desired.

Ref: www.aviationfile.com - How Long Does a Commercial Aircraft Last?

Overwhelming majority of these crews are unionized, and recently demanded and got raises and shorter weekly work time - more pay for less work - so if you want to look for reasons of problems, maybe should start there.

But don't let the opinions, based on bad publicity, stand in the way of the facts, e.g.,:

fortune.com - Flight attendants at Southwest Airlines seal deal for 22% pay hikes next month

|-------
The union said the deal gives Southwest crews the shortest on-duty day and highest pay in the industry, compensation during disruptions like the Southwest meltdown in December 2022... Workers will also split $364 million in ratification bonuses, according to the union. ...

Pilot unions at Delta, United, American and Southwest approved contracts last year that raised pay by more than one-third over several years...
-------|

Ticket prices will rise accordingly which will be blamed on "greedflation" and obviously, "record profits" - when they will have those, losses and massive layoffs during recessions or slowdowns will be blamed on management.
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