Any tips on how avoid Boeing planes when booking flights? My last flight was on a 737 and we were delayed an hour at the gate after boarding because of an issue with the thrust reverse on one of the engines. Not exactly reassuring.
You'll have to investigate the fleet owned by each airline and pick airlines which pick non-Boeing aircraft. Because pilots trained on a Boeing aircraft can't just jump to a different airframe (i.e. origin of the MAX disaster,) or manufacturer without training, a lot of airlines will prefer one over the other. But this will vary with the routes they fly, and how old vs. new their fleet is.
If you're in the US, that is going to be very difficult. In EU, its more likely but will depend on the carrier.
I think it is next to impossible to accomplish on a per-flight basis, given frequent equipment changes can be.
Those types of problems happen all the time ( perhaps more with Boeing ), these are incredibly complex machines that are worked to the bone. The scary part is the nature of the faults! With all the shenanigans with design, production, QA and management at Boeing that even a Detroit automaker would frown upon.
Airlines usually let you know the plane build when you search for flights. They don't have a filter or "sort by" but when you click open flight details the plane will be listed.
Of course it doesn't preclude them from moving you to another flight or changing equipment
My recent impression is that more than anything it's not the plane but the airline which makes the biggest difference. Like, if Southwest had Airbuses pieces would have flown off just as well because of the airline's peculiar maintenance procedures.
JetBlue is not priced like a low cost carrier, their service over all is much better than United’s and they don’t charge for wifi. I’m a fan of their SFO <-> NY/FLL routes.
Does Boeing make jet engines? Why would a thrust reverser on a CFM56 installed on a 737 be Boeing's responsibility any more than one installed on an A319?
LOL. Imagine having multiple whistleblowers telling you about widespread criminal negligence at Boeing manufacturing facilities, then all you say is "Ok, now let's see some data". The fucking clowns on this site. LOL.
No it's not a strawman argument. You are missing the point. The article is about a whistleblower reporting criminal negligence at Boeing. It is not a statistical report. Statistics are irrelevant here. However if you want some recent Boeing stats then look at the 737 Max. Two complete losses within two years of its introduction. You must have been living in a cave to not hear about that.
From the article.
"In a virtual meeting with reporters, Salehpour said Boeing was so eager to meet its production goals that it took "shortcuts" when it fastened together the carbon-composite fuselage of the 787. That could dramatically shorten the life of the plane, he warned, potentially causing it to break apart in mid-flight."
Culture starts at the top... Since criminal charges are probably a no-go (and under what law?) maybe an appropriate punishment would be to have every board member and exec pay back all profits and compensation they earned from Boeing dating back to 2005-ish (whenever financialization took hold). And it can't go away by declaring bankruptcy, they all need to pay back every penny starting immediately.
I don't think the US government even has mechanisms by which they can forcibly take money from the rich and the country is so corrupt that enforcing any kind of rule of law (which means law that applies to the rich, too) would cause large amounts of capital flight which would cause economic problems and instability for those in power.
Your average american doesn't understand that holding someone powerful to account is going to be personally painful (the idea contained in "freedom isn't free").
Yellen has even poked at this problem by trying to get other countries to band together and not accept billionaires fleeing from taxes and law enforcement.
