Enough is enough, Boeing
Two years ago, when its maiden flight was supposed to usher in a new era of high-speed, low fuel-consumption aircraft for the world's airlines -- and a new era of profits for Boeing shareholders -- the "Boeing Dreamliner" name was apropos. But now you need to make it official: The 787 is now and forevermore to be designated the Boeing Nightmare Liner.
Yesterday, Boeing announced its latest delay in the maiden voyage of "ZA001," Boeing's code for the first prototype 787. The stock promptly crashed -- down 6.5% on the day -- and has continued to burn today -- down another 6% as of this writing. Which brings Boeing to a total of over 60% worth of market cap destroyed since the company first began announcing delays in the project.
Misery loves company
Nor does the damage end there. A whole string of suppliers -- from Honeywell
Although, as the Wall Street Journal's story on the delay pointed out, the airlines' dismay may be tempered by the facts that:
- A decline in air traffic has many companies delaying or even canceling their 787 orders in an attempt to reduce capacity until demand picks up
- Depending on the specifics of their purchase contracts, the airlines may be able to extract penalties from Boeing for failure to deliver their planes on time.
The "SODDI" defense: Some other dude did it
Boeing blames its woes on a series of unfortunate coincidences that have slowed development: parts shortages and assembly issues with its suppliers, redesigns, and of course, the crippling IAM labor strike late last year. But the truth is that this is a disaster of Boeing's own doing.
Once upon a time, I urged Boeing not to make promises it could not fulfill ("underpromise, overdeliver," I believe is how the saying goes). Yet, since that April 2008 delay (according to The Wall Street Journal, the fourth in what is now a series of six and counting), Boeing pushed back the 787's arrival date in December in addition to the newest delay.
Worse still, Boeing admits that it was aware of the 787's structural defect -- the weakness in the plane's side-of-body near where the wings attach -- as far back as last month. Yet as recently as last week, Commercial Airplanes CEO Scott Carson was still telling investors that his bird "could fly today." A Boeing spokesperson averred by saying Boeing "truly believed" that ZA001 would fly in June, but that after failing to fix the defect in time, Carson became convinced that canceling the test flight was "while difficult, the prudent step for us to take."
Red ink, and red herrings
No one's disputing that, Mr. Carson. Certainly, your stock would have suffered far worse had you proceeded with the test only to have the ZA001's wings fall off in midair. I shudder to think of the legal liabilities, even lengthier delays in production, and lost sales that such a disaster would have caused. But that's not the point. Nor is the exact severity of the problem.
The real point is that you should never have promised us that the plane would be ready by X date in the first place if you were uncertain that you could deliver. The old saw: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me" comes to mind. And it gets this Fool to wondering what consequence "Fool us six times in a row" should entail ...
Foolish takeaway
Boeing's latest snafu has so far cost its investors $4 billion in market cap in two days' time, and I for one think it's about time we stopped the bleeding. Does anybody have Alan Mulally's phone number over at Ford
I can see the job ad now: "Wanted: Veteran manufacturing exec needed to pull blue chip plane builder out of a tailspin. Aerospace experience desired. Ability to think before speaking essential."
