I've sold all my Boeing shares

[tenant13]

I'm sure in 2-3 years we will all forget (again) how terrible QC is at that company but I just don't want to support them by holding their stock.

Logically, I understand that you can't make these planes perfect: they would cost too much and require ticket prices to go way up. So 100-300 dead passengers every now and then is probably an acceptable price for running a business. Cars, guns, trains, boats etc. - all these industries deal with accidents and we happily own their stock. Besides, worldwide demand for new planes is too big for one company - Airbus - to handle it. I'm not even going into military contracts which have nothing to do with market.

So... all that is logic but I don't care about being logical - I don't trust them, I don't like them and I hope they will fail. They certainly deserve to.

 

[HarveyS]

If I owned BA I would sell. Actually, would have sold after the MAX issues in 2018. A good friend was trying to talk me into buying after the 2018 crashes but I did not.

I certainly hope they get the ship righted. I believe they can and will. I just don't know at what cost and in what time frame. Thus, I don't want to be an investor.

 

[tominboise]

It's time for a management philosophy change at the Boeing company. It morphed from an engineering based company with the mission statement of "Be the #1 aerospace company in the world" to an MBA based company with the mission statement of "Be #1 in shareholder value". I worked there when it happened in the late 1990's. It's taken a while to weed out all the old values but they have finally accomplished their goal. Too bad they managed to kill the company in doing so.

Note - I understand that Boeing wasn't perfect before the Phil Condit era, but since then, it's been a long slide of questionable business decisions. Promoting Alan Mullaly to the CEO was the last hope they had of reversing the slide. Too bad they passed on him.

 

[H2ODude]

Loose bolts in multiple aircraft not long after delivery is, alarming?

 

[aja8888]

Boeing is too big to fail. And the gov will bail them out if they start to sink into BK because they are a national treasure. There will be more government injections of money and more share buy backs to enrich MBA execs! What's not to like? /s

 

[tenant13]

Yes. I agree with it 100%. I mean the logical part of my brain does. But as I mentioned, I got rid of them because I don’t like them.

 

[Aerides]

Loose bolts in multiple aircraft not long after delivery is, alarming?

I heard today if might have been the bolts were not installed at all, on at least the one aircraft that had the failure.

 

[Sunset]

Quality on the line, seems to have decreased like it did to NA auto makers, I finally bailed on N.A. autos as they always needed repairs..

Yesterday a wheel fell off a Boeing plane in Atlanta just as it was getting into position to take off... luckily some other pilot saw the wheel rolling away and radioed a warning.
Probably a maintenance issue and not Boeing, but still not helping the company.

 

[braumeister]

Yesterday a wheel fell off a Boeing plane in Atlanta

That's hardly a Boeing issue. The plane was over 30 years old, so I would say that one was on the airline (Delta), not the manufacturer.

 

[m3bs]

I'm glad I didn't take my brother's advice to buy Boeing 5 or 6 years ago. Luckily, he did put me into NVDA about the same time.....

 

[Sunset]

That's hardly a Boeing issue. The plane was over 30 years old, so I would say that one was on the airline (Delta), not the manufacturer.

Which I said:
"Probably a maintenance issue and not Boeing, but still not helping the company. "

 

[CaptTom]

...It morphed from an engineering based company with the mission statement of "Be the #1 aerospace company in the world" to an MBA based company with the mission statement of "Be #1 in shareholder value"...

I think we've all seen that same shift everywhere, in this same timeframe. Certainly at the MegaCorp I worked for. The change seems to have done some real damage to productivity and quality across all US corporations. Not to mention what its done to employees. CEO's seem to be doing OK though.

Sorry, I still don't buy it. There is more to a company than just next quarter's return on investment.

 

[Out of Steam]

Boeing is too big to fail. And the gov will bail them out if they start to sink into BK because they are a national treasure.

I've thought for several years that Boeing has already designed its last passenger aircraft. The US Government will, probably appropriately, keep them from failing to the point that their fleet in service becomes unsupported.

Since US corporate culture no longer has the long-term outlook and meticulousness to build a new design aircraft on the scale required to replace the 737, even trillions of dollars from the US government cannot turn an incapable company into a capable one.

An overseas sale may be the best-case scenario.

 

[Texas Proud]

Boeing is too big to fail. And the gov will bail them out if they start to sink into BK because they are a national treasure. There will be more government injections of money and more share buy backs to enrich MBA execs! What's not to like? /s

Too big to fail but not too big to have all shareholders reduced to zero....

 

[Chuckanut]

Too big to fail but not too big to have all shareholders reduced to zero....

Does Boeing issue bonds? I recall the GM bond holders did not do very well in the bailout.

In November of 2020 SpaceX launched its first manned flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX and Boeing both received contracts for a manned vehicle at the same time. Boeing got one billion dollars more than SpaceX to build and launch its vehicle called the Starliner. So far there has been no manned launch of its Starliner. One billion dollars more, and Boeing is well over three years behind its competitor.

 

[brett]

Quality Assurance continues to be a major issue at Boeing. It started with military orders a few years ago and is now showing up in the commercial sector.

It is no surprise that Airbus Industrie surpassed Boeing to become number 1 in the commercial marketplace.

This is about Boeing. But it is also about the losses that Boeing customers incur when taking aircraft out of service for these inspections causes them to cancel hundreds of flights. United Airlines has publicly placed a dollar amount on the revenue loss. If you were an airline CEO would you for a moment consider a Boeing only fleet

These issues fall well below those of safety. It seems very clear to me that Boeing does not place the same focus on safety that the FAA, the airlines, and the flying pubic do.

Words and promises from Boeing will not change anything. Boeing has been there before.....nothing seems to have changed in the interim. Same old, same old.

 

[Andre1969]

Boeing is too big to fail. And the gov will bail them out if they start to sink into BK because they are a national treasure. There will be more government injections of money and more share buy backs to enrich MBA execs! What's not to like? /s

It might be too big to fail, but sometimes companies will go through a bankruptcy and make any stock you own worthless, and when they emerge from the bankruptcy, they issue new stock, that you have to buy into again. So you can't just ride it out.

Kmart went through that, years ago. And I think GM might have as well, when they were bailed out during the Great Recession, although I'm not sure about that one.

 

[HarveyS]

and in 2002 United Airlines went bankrupt.

 

[stephenson]

I expect Boeing stock price to rebound.

Sure, Boeing is important as a supplier to the USG, and as such will be supported by the USG.

Now, recall not long ago, Lockheed built commercial aircraft. LMC could certainly do this, again, but given the market - it probably doesn't make sense - but, it's possible.

Methinks Boeing has always thought of itself as an equipment production company - somewhat unwilling in the last 50 years to invest in the manner the Europeans have in their builder, Airbus. Also, although I have not worked directly for Boeing, my sense is they have a significant, almost overwhelming arrogance problem.

Boeing's efforts in space systems are about the same - except LMC is the Airbus of that discussion.

 

[Fermion]

They need to let it fail. I have had several investments fail, nobody came in to bail me out.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

In the defense sector, Boeing is a disaster. From my job I see it every single day, across multiple programs. I do believe that arrogance is the correct word to describe Boeing these days.

 

[stephenson]

They need to let it fail. I have had several investments fail, nobody came in to bail me out.

I suspect, Fermion, you are not essential to the national security and international political goals as Boeing.

Make no mistake - there are some companies that are essential. Boeing and LMC are two that come to mind.

 

[aja8888]

They need to let it fail. I have had several investments fail, nobody came in to bail me out.

You need to get a ton of federal money for free and then do a stock buyback! Don't worry about BK! /s

 

[joesxm3]

One interesting fact is that Air Bus uses Palantir's software. Boeing does not.

 

[Fermion]

I suspect, Fermion, you are not essential to the national security and international political goals as Boeing.

Make no mistake - there are some companies that are essential. Boeing and LMC are two that come to mind.

Essential doesn't mean that they can't just be nationalized though. Sort of like general motors was.