⇒ All Things Boeing ... 737-Max Rudder Safety Alert.

Old_Joe

Here are excerpts from a current report in The Guardian:

Boeing called off its first astronaut launch because of a valve problem on its rocket on Monday night.

Two Nasa test pilots had just strapped into Boeing’s Starliner capsule when the countdown was halted, just two hours before the planned liftoff. A United Launch Alliance engineer, Dillon Rice, said the issue involved an oxygen relief valve on the upper stage of the company’s Atlas rocket.

There was no immediate word on when the team would try again to launch the test pilots to the International Space Station for a week-long stay. It was the latest delay for Boeing’s first crew flight, on hold for years because of capsule trouble.

Nasa hired Boeing and SpaceX a decade ago to ferry astronauts to and from the space station after the shuttle program ended, paying the private companies billions of dollars. SpaceX has been in the orbital taxi business since 2020.

Starliner’s debut test flight, without a crew, in 2019 ended up in the wrong orbit and failed to reach the space station, forcing Boeing to repeat the demo before astronauts could fly. Following more reviews last year, the company had to fix the capsule’s parachutes and yank out a mile of flammable tape.

Old_Joe

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hank

Thanks for the update @Old_Joe.

I happened to watch the NASA press conference late last evening. Five reps from across the spectrum, including Launch Alliance and Boeing. That relief valve you mention was detected “buzzing” (apparently by other sensors). A buzzing sound indicates a “flutter” condition. Going further - the flutter could cause premature wear on the valve so that it might not operate throughout the flight. Doing a valve reset or test would have required some type of “fuel transfer”. Perfectly acceptable on non-crewed missions. But LA rules are stricter when humans are aboard. There was a mild “dig” at SpaceX from the Launch Alliance engineer. He noted that “others” continue fueling their rockets with people aboard, but their own rules don’t allow this, as it is seen as too dangerous.

Geez. This really is ”rocket science”. Difficult to imagine the complexity of these things.

Crash

For BA: Just another brick in the wall. One thing after another. After another. Ya, rockets are complicated. Oxygen relief valve. Yes, sounds dangerous.

Reminds me of Apollo I, but after that horrible fire, NASA stopped using a pure oxygen atmosphere in their space vehicles. I don't suppose the scrubbed current mission was using pure oxygen, either.....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_1

Old_Joe

Some 96 percent of union members voted in favor of the strike, rejecting a proposal that would have boosted pay and benefits even as it fell short of other demands.

Following are edited excerpts from a current report in The Washington Post.

SEATTLE — Boeing workers picketed outside the company’s plants in Washington state early Friday morning after voting overwhelmingly to strike. Tens of thousands of machinists voted Thursday to reject a proposed deal between the company and the union that would have significantly boosted pay and benefits even as it fell short of other union demands.

Some 96 percent of members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 voted in favor of the strike — far more than the two-thirds needed to launch the work stoppage.

The walkout is a stinging rebuke for Boeing and could represent the most disrupting challenge yet for a company that has spent much of this year in damage control as it careened from crisis to crisis.

The strike risks derailing the aerospace giant’s recovery from ongoing financial and safety challenges and could cost the cash-strapped company an estimated $1 billion per week, according to analysts. The union plays a key role in assembling some of the company’s best-selling aircraft.

The most direct impact is on Boeing’s assembly plants in Washington, especially in Everett and Renton. An extended work stoppage could also impact Boeing suppliers and possibly shrink its share of the aerospace market.

Machinists in Seattle said the strike was long coming: “We just want to be treated right and they’re not doing it,” said mechanic Charles Fromong, who has worked for Boeing for more than 37 years. “So I guess we’re going to get it done.”

Boeing said early Friday that it would return to the bargaining table: “The message was clear that the tentative agreement we reached with IAM leadership was not acceptable to the members,” the company said in a statement. “We remain committed to resetting our relationship with our employees and the union, and we are ready to get back to the table to reach a new agreement.”

After a string of tense, marathon negotiating sessions over the last several weeks, the IAM and Boeing announced Sunday that they had reached a tentative four-year agreement, including a 25 percent pay increase over four years and enhanced health and retirement benefits. Also significant: If workers had voted to accept the deal before the current contract, Boeing committed to building its next new aircraft in Washington state, a key union demand. Both sides and investors had cheered the deal.

“Four years is not enough to make up for the last 16,” Boeing worker Roger Ligrano said before he voted. He said he was voting to strike, in part, to give union members more time to understand a deal.

Harold Ruffalo, who has worked for Boeing for 28 years, said after the vote results were announced that too much corporate greed is impacting the company, and workers need more money to live as inflation hits paychecks.

The Biden administration was monitoring the situation; acting Labor Secretary Julie Su has been in contact with both sides.

Leading up to the strike deadline, analysts said they were worried about how long a strike would last. They said that many workers have not forgotten previous rounds of negotiations in which Boeing pushed for concessions — including the end of the traditional pension program — to keep aircraft production in Washington state.

Michael Bruno, Aviation Week Network’s executive editor for business, said in previous rounds of negotiations Boeing threatened to move airplane production to other states to extract concessions from the union, which soured relations.

The last time IAM members struck was in 2008, a 57-day day walkout that Moody’s estimated cost Boeing about $1.5 billion a month. Boeing reopened negotiations on that contract twice, in 2011 and in 2013, and won significant concessions from workers.

Crash

"...significant concessions from workers."

Time to pay them back!
Nurse's Union here is striking again, for a single day. Admin. says anyone who doesn't show up for work will be locked out. They simply refuse to hire enough people to do the work--- though the offered pay increase is legitimately large. The Union is asking for binding arbitration.
Yes, this is tangential, sorry. But it's all about the same sort of situation:
https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2024/09/13/strike-set-after-negotiations-between-nurses-kapiolani-medical-center-end-without-deal/

Mitchelg

The unions will bust Boeing. The stock is not investible.

BaluBalu

If those news reports are correct, it seems BA union workers do not trust their own union leaders who negotiated their deal. BA should bypass the union leaders and take the terms directly to the employees; however long it takes to get it done.

Companies with heavy blue collar workers see the disproportionate comp difference between the workers and the management. The discrepancy in Europe is not as severe and it is not as severe in the US Tech industry (for a different reason). Congress can fix some of these issues by penalizing RSU grants and encouraging stock option grants.

Except for its history in Seattle, I do not see why BA needs to move some of its operations back to Seattle. I think the company should organize itself to operate most efficiently, notwithstanding what unions want. My sense is, in the final deal, workers will get what is most important to them and the company will get what is most important for the company's operations. Hopefully, the union leaders lose out.

gman57

I just read a little blurb on AP. In the contract there is a 25% salary gain over 4 years. Dang, doesn't sound bad to me. Cola is key.

Crash

Healthcare, healthcare, healthcare. Pension, pension, pension. "Significant concessions in the past." Time to catch up. Time for a corporate reckoning.

Crash

Space & Defense Chief leaves.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/boeing-defense-head-ted-colbert-205610533.html

Observant1

"Meanwhile, the rolling furloughs Boeing announced Wednesday for non-unionized employees — requiring one week off unpaid out of four to conserve cash — are being applied widely across all divisions, including Commercial Airplanes, Defense and Space, and the aftermarket services unit."

"And one particular set of nonunion employees were surprised to learn they will be among those subject to the rolling furloughs. That’s those in Boeing’s Chief Aerospace Safety Office — responsible for the company’s implementation of Congressional legislation that raised safety standards and setting up a new companywide safety management system."

"As Boeing makes these moves to conserve cash, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers insisted Thursday 'this strike is going to last as long as it has to.'"

Boeing Furloughs

Crash

737-Max rudder Safety Alert.
https://thehill.com/homenews/4921992-faa-warning-boeing-737-rudder-system-may-jam/
"...a sealed bearing was incorrectly assembled during production, leaving the one side more susceptible to moisture which can freeze and limit rudder system movement...The news comes just four days after lawmakers urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate Boeing executives for putting profit over safety. The company has been under intense scrutiny over the last year following an incident in January when a door panel flew off mid-flight during an Alaska Airlines trip."

Old_Joe

It should be noted that the defective part was sold to Boeing by Collins Aerospace — an aerospace manufacturer that supplies Boeing. Given the nature of the defect there is no suggestion that Boeing could have or should have been aware of the defect, which went unnoticed until some 737 rudder control systems became compromised after being in service for an extended period of time.

Collins Aerospace is an American technology company that is one of the world's largest suppliers of aerospace and defense products, and is not owned or controlled by Boeing.