Boeing's goings...

[deicer]

Welcome back Don!  

Have missed your wisdom and wit on the board! 

 

[Don Hudson]

Thank you, deicer...-I've missed it too but a break was good. Been watching the industry, partitularly the character of incidents and the (rare) accidents for trends that are extensions of past "automation" events and new ones which may have to do with training regimes and new entry methods into the profession. I have some friends contributing to the mentoring process - very encouraging.

[Kip Powick]

20 hours ago, Don Hudson said:

Hi conehead - thank you!, - yes, a while for sure; dropped in once in a while - nothing other than just taking a break from writing - We are all healthy and happy with three young grandchildren, (6, 8 & 10, all girls!), so busy and doing a lot of photography work.

Cheers!

Don

Granddaughters...   me too....3 girls...12,14,16, One in Softball, (12yr old) sisters 14, 16 do sailing and hockey..Silver medal in sailing at  Ontario Summer Games, now both prepping for hockey, both on Kingston AA Rep teams.

Surprising how far a Grandfather will drive to watch one of the players be on the ice for 12-15 mins 

Glad to hear all is well at your end Don........be safe (Putting the boat away for the season)

[Don Hudson]

G'daughters - soooo precious - great accomplishments for them all, Kip, really nice to hear!

 

[Don Hudson]

Re Boeing's stock price, ($160, down from 174 with 4x volume):

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/topstocks/boeing-stock-got-hammered-why-this-analyst-downgrade-terrified-investors/ar-AA1pULnj

 

[GDR]

14 hours ago, Don Hudson said:

G'daughters - soooo precious - great accomplishments for them all, Kip, really nice to hear!

 

We mostly do boys but I now have 10 grandchildren with the youngest being 23 and 12 great-grandkids and all doing well. I am now officially an ancestor. Life is good. Great to hear from you again Don.

 

[Don Hudson]

Hi Greg...You too, Greg!

Twelve great-grandkids...wow! - re, " I am now officially an ancestor." LOL!!! We still visit Todd's former business...it's being run very nicely! It was always a pleasure to drop in, chat and keep up.

 

[GDR]

Actually I should have pointed out the it is only 11 greats but 1 is enroute arriving near the end of the year which will make 8 of those 12 Todd's grand kids.

[Malcolm]

FILE - A Boeing machinist and union member leads cheers during the "stop work meeting" and strike sanction at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, July 17, 2024. (Kevin Clark/The Seattle Times via AP, File)© The Associated Press

DALLAS (AP) — Boeing and its largest union are entering the last week of contract negotiations before a threatened strike by more than 30,000 workers who build the planes that carry millions of airline passengers every year.

A walkout would add to the headwinds facing Boeing, which is hurtling toward a sixth straight money-losing year and just hired a new CEO to turn things around.

 

The regional branch of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers says the two sides are far apart on wages, health care and job security. The union of started out seeking pay raises of more than 40% over three years, although "that's probably not where we're going to end up,” IAM District 751 President Jon Holden said last week.

The union has scheduled a two-part election for Thursday, with voting at more than a half-dozen locations in Washington state and one in Southern California. Workers will vote on Boeing’s last contract offer and whether to authorize a strike if the offer is rejected. A walkout could begin by Friday morning.

A straw vote in July to gauge support for a strike passed with 99.99% support, according to the union.

"What we are asking for is reasonable,” Holden said in an interview. “We need to get more wages to address the very low increases over the last 10 years, massive inflation, massive cost-shift on health care. We are trying to reach an agreement, but (union members) are ready to take action if we don't get there.”

 

Related video: 32,000 Boeing employees may go on strike (TheStreet)

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Holden said the union has a strike fund in the millions and isn’t afraid to tap it.

Boeing declined to make an executive available to discuss the labor negotiations. A spokesperson provided a one-sentence statement.

“We’re confident we can reach a deal that balances the needs of our employees and the business realities we face as a company,” the statement said.

Boeing’s new chief executive, Kelly Ortberg, has tried to take a conciliatory posture toward labor. He is working in Seattle, to be near the factories where the company builds most of its commercial airplanes, instead of at headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. He walked the floor of the 737 Max plant during his first day on the job.

“He understands that they are basically contentious relationships with the union, and he wants to make those relationships better,” TD Cowen aerospace analyst Cai von Rumohr said.

 

Ortberg already has a long to-do list. The new CEO will try to fix Boeing’s aircraft-manufacturing process, gain regulatory approval for the long-delayed 777X jumbo jet, limit damage from over-budget government contracts, pay down $45 billion in net debt, and absorb Spirit AeroSystems, the money-losing key supplier that Boeing just bought for $4.7 billion.

 

FILE - Boeing 737 MAX airplanes are shown on the assembly line during a media tour at the Boeing facility in Renton, Wash., June 25, 2024. (Jennifer Buchanan/The Seattle Times via AP, Pool, File)© The Associated Press

Ortberg's toughest job will be restoring Boeing's reputation for quality, which was crushed after two 737 Max jets crashed less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people, and took another big hit when a door plug blew off a Max during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

 

Unlike strikes at airlines, which are very rare, a walkout at Boeing would not have an immediate effect on consumers. It would not result in any canceled flights. It would, however, shut down production and leave Boeing with no jets to deliver to the airlines that ordered them.

“During a strike, they don’t work on planes, they don’t deliver planes,” von Rumohr said. Aircraft makers typically get about 60% of the purchase price on delivery, “so not delivering planes has a massive impact on your cash in-flow, and your costs probably continue on.”

An eight-week strike in 2008, the longest at Boeing since a 10-week walkout in 1995, cost the company about $100 million a day in deferred revenue.

Meeting the union’s wage demand would cost Boeing $1.5 billion in cash, which is “a small price to pay versus a strike,” Jefferies aerospace analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu said. In a note to clients, she estimated a strike would cost the company about $3 billion, a calculation based on the impact of the 2008 strike plus inflation and current airplane-production rates.

 

Boeing is in far worse financial shape than it was in 2008. The company has lost $27 billion since the start of 2019, around the time that its best-selling plane, the 737 Max, was grounded worldwide after the crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Revenue is down, debt is up.

Boeing's greatest strength is that is remains one of the world’s two leading manufacturers of airline jets, forming a duopoly with Europe's Airbus. Boeing has a huge backlog of orders, which it values at more than $500 billion.

The company's defense and space business is a major government contractor, although that business too is struggling. Its most recent setback was NASA's decision to use SpaceX instead of Boeing's Starliner capsule to bring two astronauts home from the international space station.

Job security is emerging as a key issue in the current negotiations. The union is still seething over the loss of work on the 787 Dreamliner, a large, two-aisle jetliner that is assembled by nonunion Boeing workers in South Carolina. The IAM wants a guarantee its members will keep the work they have and that the union will represent the workers who build Boeing's next airliner.

 

That plane isn't even on the drawing board yet, and production could be a decade or more away. It is vital to IAM, however, because one-third of the union's members at Boeing — more than 10,000 people — work on the 737 Max, which the new plane would replace.

The union president said Boeing has been in “free fall" for more than a year, and he acknowledged the company faces huge and costly challenges. Despite all that, he said, the union is in good position to win a strong contract.

“All employers are searching for skilled labor, and we have it,” Holden said. “This company has a massive backlog of over 5,000 airplanes to build and deliver, so we are in high demand right now. That’s our leverage.”

David Koenig, The Associated Press

[Malcolm]

 

T

Boeing and union reach tentative deal, 25% wage increase for workers

Story by DPA International

 • 41m

he struggling aircraft manufacturer Boeing announced on Sunday that it has reached a tentative agreement with its largest union which includes a 25% wage increase just days before a threatened strike.

The International Association of Machinists (IAM), which represents approximately 33,000 employees, had originally been advocating for raises of about 40%.

 

The income increase agreed on Sunday, as well as improvements to healthcare costs and retirement benefits, are to be applied over four years.

It also provides increased job security for union members, including a commitment to build the next new airplane at one of the union-represented plants in the Puget Sound region.

Boeing noted that if the tentative agreement is ratified by September 12, 2024, employees will receive a one-time $3,000 lump sum payment.

The agreement is set to expire at midnight on Thursday, and a strike could have started immediately if no deal was reached.

 

[Malcolm]

A Boeing 737 MAX aircraft is assembled at the company's plant in Renton, Washington, U.S. June 25, 2024. Jennifer Buchanan/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo© Thomson Reuters

FAA needs to ensure adequate safety metrics before Boeing 737 MAX production can grow -- agency

Story by Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday the agency must ensure the planemaker's safety processes are adequate before it will lift its 737 MAX production cap.

FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said he raised the issue with Boeing's new chief executive Kelly Ortberg in their first conversation and wants to ensure the planemaker follows through on its quality turnaround plan.

 

"There have been comprehensive plans before, so I think the goal now is we really need to make sure that that's executed," Whitaker said at an industry conference. "We've capped production -- that was my first conversation with the new CEO. We need to make sure the safety metrics are exactly where they need to be to grow."

(Reporting by David Shepardson)

[Malcolm]

Found on Facebook, Boeing offer

[Malcolm]

Boeing boss makes last-ditch plea to workers ahead of strike vote (bbc.com)

Boeing's new chief executive Kelly Ortberg has pleaded with workers to not go on strike as it would put the company's "recovery in jeopardy".

It comes hours ahead of a crucial union vote that could trigger industrial action at the embattled company.

The aviation giant's executives and union representatives reached a deal earlier this week that includes a 25% pay rise over four years but it has yet to be approved by union members.

If workers vote against the agreement it would lead to a second ballot on whether to start a strike as early as Friday.

[deicer]

2 hours ago, Malcolm said:

Boeing boss makes last-ditch plea to workers ahead of strike vote (bbc.com)

Boeing's new chief executive Kelly Ortberg has pleaded with workers to not go on strike as it would put the company's "recovery in jeopardy".

It comes hours ahead of a crucial union vote that could trigger industrial action at the embattled company.

The aviation giant's executives and union representatives reached a deal earlier this week that includes a 25% pay rise over four years but it has yet to be approved by union members.

If workers vote against the agreement it would lead to a second ballot on whether to start a strike as early as Friday.

Maybe he and the executive should put some skin in the game.

Say a 25% pay  cut at their level to show sincerity?

[Malcolm]

4 minutes ago, deicer said:

Maybe he and the executive should put some skin in the game.

Say a 25% pay  cut at their level to show sincerity?

any idea re what they are paid?

The following link gives you some data but not top executive pay

https://www.levels.fyi/companies/boeing/salaries

the next link however does contain some information 

https://www.aviationpros.com/aircraft/news/21260174/despite-boeing-woes-top-executives-get-big-paychecks

[deicer]

1 minute ago, Malcolm said:

any idea re what they are paid?

The following link gives you some data but not top executive pay

https://www.levels.fyi/companies/boeing/salaries

Calhoun is making $33 Million on his new package approved in May 2024.  And he'll be getting golden parachute as well.

https://apnews.com/article/boeing-shareholders-ceo-compensation-investigations-2216aff126c2c48f03294ae3541bf7b6

The new guy will be getting $22 Million per annum.  

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/see-how-new-boeing-chief-kelly-ortbergs-pay-compares-with-was-best-paid-ceos/

 

 

[W5]

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8jlj3dnlw7o

Boeing  workers vote to strike.

[Malcolm]

•  

Boeing's US factory workers strike, halting 737 MAX production

By Joe Brock and David Shepardson

September 13, 20248:14 AM MDTUpdated 3 min ago

• About 30,000 workers in Seattle and Portland areas on strike
• Boeing already wrestling with output delays, high debt
• Strike poses a challenge for new CEO Kelly Ortberg
• Shares fall 2.1% early trading session

SEATTLE, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Boeing's (BA.N), opens new tab U.S. West Coast factory workers walked off the job on Friday after overwhelmingly rejecting a contract deal, halting production of the planemaker's strongest-selling and sending shares down over 2%.

The first strike since 2008 comes as the planemaker is under heavy scrutiny from U.S. regulators and customers after a door panel blew off a 737 MAX jet mid-air in January.

The mounting crises hit Boeing's stock and sparked a leadership upheaval. The shares fell 2.1% in the early morning trading session. The stock has lost nearly 38% so far this year, losing $58 billion in marketvalue.

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Shares in Spirit Aerosystems (SPR.N), opens new tab, the supplier Boeing is buying, fell 0.6%.

New CEO Kelly Ortberg was brought in just weeks ago to restore faith in the planemaker and proposed a deal including a pay rise of 25% over four years, far lower than the 40% workers had demanded.

Roughly 30,000 International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) members who produce Boeing's top selling 737 MAX and other jets in the Seattle and Portland areas voted on their first full contract in 16 years, with 94.6% rejecting it and 96% favoring a strike in a two-part ballot.

 

"This is about fighting for our future," said Jon Holden, who headed the negotiations for Boeing's largest union, before announcing the vote result on Thursday evening. The union will get back to the table as quickly as it can, Holden told reporters, without saying how long he thought the strike would last or when talks would resume.

Boeing said it was ready to get back to the negotiating table, a sign that it could sweeten the deal.

"The message was clear that the tentative agreement we reached with IAM leadership was not acceptable to the members. We remain committed to resetting our relationship with our employees and the union," the planemaker said in a statement.

Boeing had said it had offered workers everything it could and needs to plan for the investments needed to replace its best-selling single-aisle models while placating striking workers.

 

A long strike could badly hit Boeing's finances, already groaning due to a $60-billion debt pile. To cover debt maturities, Boeing needs to generate enough cash flow.

Bank of America said Boeing would likely have to move closer to IAM's initial wage proposal.

Line chart showing the change in share price of Boeing and S&P500 from Jan. 2018 annotated with various safety incidents of Boeing aircrafts and spacecrafts.

BOEING'S CHALLENGES

The proposed deal included a $3,000 signing bonus and a pledge to build Boeing's next commercial jet in the Seattle area, provided the program was launched within the contract term.

Data from equity research firm Melius Research showed median employee compensation for the aerospace and defense firms companies it monitors grew 12% between 2018 and 2023. It fell 6% for Boeing and 19% for Spirit Aerosystems.

Although IAM leadership recommended last Sunday that its members accept the contract, many workers responded angrily, arguing for the original demand and an annual bonus.

STRIKE!

Workers have been protesting all week in Boeing factories in the Seattle area that assemble Boeing's MAX, 777 and 767 jets.

On Friday, members in the union hall cheered and chanted "Strike! Strike! Strike!" and shortly after midnight, striking workers started to gather outside Boeing factories in the Seattle area. Many waved placards that read: ‘On Strike Against Boeing', and drivers honked horns in support.

“I’m willing to strike for two months or even longer. Let’s go as long as it takes to get what we deserve,” said James Mann, a 26-year-old who works in a wings division.

The Biden administration was in touch with both sides, White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre said on Thursday. "We are going to encourage both parties to negotiate in that way, in good faith and reaching a strong contract," she said.

A prolonged strike would weigh on airlines that depend on Boeing jets and suppliers that manufacture parts and components.

JPMorgan said Boeing could adjust the pace at which it takes material. "At a minimum, a prolonged strike could affect supplier growth expectations," said analyst Seth M. Seifman.

Boeing workers' last strike in 2008 shuttered plants for nearly two months and hit revenue by an estimated $100 million per day. According to TD Cowen, a 50-day strike could cost Boeing $3 billion to $3.5 billion of cash flow.

CFM, the sole-source engine supplier for the 737 MAX, said there was no immediate impact to its operations.

Southwest Airlines (LUV.N), opens new tab said it remains in close communications with Boeing, adding earlier this year it took steps to address potential deliveries disruptions.

Cathay Pacific (0293.HK), opens new tab and flydubai said they were in touch with Boeing. A flydubai spokesperson said the airline was looking forward to Boeing swiftly resolving the issue.

S&P Global Ratings said that an extended strike could hurt its overall rating. Both S&P and Moody's rate Boeing one notch above junk status.