Boeing HQ
Today’s news stories focus on the continuing saga of the Boeing Starliner. The latest stories tell of the news that emerged over the weekend that NASA and Boeing had a major disagreement about bringing the astronauts home on the Starliner, with NASA unwilling to risk the safety of the crew. As a result, the Starliner is expected to leave the International Space Station on September 6th to come home autonomously, which Boeing needs to be a success.
Another report indicates that the Falcon 9 booster failure to recover on the last SpaceX satellite mission could delay the SpaceX rescue mission, keeping the astronauts on the ISS longer than planned. Finally, in the most bizarre news of the weekend, the astronauts are reporting strange noises coming from the Starliner capsule that sound somewhat like sonar pings. That is a bit disconcerting, unless the ground is testing some of the autonomous systems. The Starliner saga continues to feature the unusual and implausible.
A feature in the Seattle Times focuses on Boeing’s factory floor, with workers feeling ‘over-managed and under-supported’ under Boeing’s current culture. Those attitudes helped the IAM union obtain a wide approval for a strike, which another story indicates could become Boeing’s next challenge.
Kelly Ortberg continues his introduction tour, meeting with the FAA administrator for the first time and discussing plans for cultural change at Boeing. That change can’t come quickly enough.
Finally, a report in the South China Morning Post asks whether there is a window of opportunity for COMAC and the C919 internationally while quality and supply chain issues have limited Boeing. With supply chain constraints impacting Airbus ability to ramp production, could COMAC capitalize on an unusual opportunity? While we believe the answer is only a limited short-term opportunity, there is potential for COMAC over the longer term.
Links to today’s key stories follow:
- NASA astronaut stuck in space reports ‘strange noises’ coming from troubled Starliner capsule – Fox News
- Mission to rescue Boeing’s stranded astronauts suffers another blow – Daily Mail
- Boeing’s Starliner is coming back without a crew on September 6 – engadget
- NASA, Boeing sparred over bringing astronauts home – Newsmax
- On Boeing’s factory floor, workers feel ‘overmanaged and undersupported’ – Seattle Times
- Will a union strike be the next Boeing challenge? – Forbes
- New Boeing boss holds first meeting with FAA chief as IATA urges supply chain fix – The National
- As Boeing flails, does China’s C919 jet have ‘window of opportunity’ in global market? – SCMP
