I would be interested in an organizational investigation of Boeing, the FAA and the airlines similar to the investigation of NASA after the Challenger disaster.
I keep reading comments that it was just corporate greed or just regulatory capture or Boeing should’ve just built a new plane. But I suspect it’s not that simple, and that there are lessons to be learned beyond what the crash investigations uncover.
For example, from reading the Wikipedia on the 737 Max it sounds like Boeing was pressured by the airlines into producing the Max after Airbus was able to ship a more fuel efficient 320.
Usually you expect competition to lead to better products so it would be somewhat ironic if the competition from Airbus is what forced Boeing’s hand on producing the Max. Without that pressure maybe Boeing could have told the airlines to back off while it produced a new design.
I’m no airplane expert but I find the trend lines of the industry interesting and one trend has been how fuel prices and long lead times on fuel efficiency has lead to formerly continental planes now flying intercontinental. AirBus has really done this well and airlines love to be able to reuse resources. With the MAX there is a sense that airline execs are spooked by a new plane since it requires a ton of new training and maintenance outfitting. So Boeing, possibly smartly, tried to create what these airlines would pay for (a fuel efficient airplane) that would marketable be super similar to a very popular plane. But this lead to rushing the process and making too many affordances and hiding the differences from airlines and training material for fear of spooking business execs worried about cost.
I keep reading comments that it was just corporate greed or just regulatory capture or Boeing should’ve just built a new plane. But I suspect it’s not that simple, and that there are lessons to be learned beyond what the crash investigations uncover.
For example, from reading the Wikipedia on the 737 Max it sounds like Boeing was pressured by the airlines into producing the Max after Airbus was able to ship a more fuel efficient 320.
Usually you expect competition to lead to better products so it would be somewhat ironic if the competition from Airbus is what forced Boeing’s hand on producing the Max. Without that pressure maybe Boeing could have told the airlines to back off while it produced a new design.