A new report finds Boeing’s rockets are built with an unqualified work force
A new report finds Boeing’s rockets are built with an unqualified work force
NASA declines to penalize Boeing for the deficiencies.
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The report cites inexperienced workforce, exacerbated by the limited pool to hire from in New Orleans and the non-competitive wages Boeing offers compared to other aerospace companies. Mobile and Huntsville are right there. Lol, pony up, Boeing.
And the report mentions operators are given work instructions that lack detail and require the operator to go diving through multiple levels of specifications and historical records to understand what to do. This speaks to inadequate manufacturing engineers and processes, who are putting out the inadequate work instructions. So I'm assuming the non-competitive pay and retention problems apply to their engineers too, not just the hourly operators and mechanics.
Work for Boeing for bad pay and to see this shit in the news? Or hop over to Mobile, AL to work for Airbus at a better wage on a popular commercial plane with good reliability and a good reputation. Decisions, decisions.
the report mentions operators are given work instructions that lack detail and require the operator to go diving through multiple levels of specifications and historical records to understand what to do
Damn, That's a red flag for anything that flies. I imagine their compliance checklists during assembly are a mess.
I work in automotive as an engineer and that would be a red flag in our industry too. Our safety standards are only a fraction as strict as aerospace for obvious reasons (we’re not shooting cars through the atmosphere at the speed of sound!), but we’d never get away with this with the amount of audits and accountability that we’re held to. This whole saga is absolutely insane.
And then there Tesla with masking tape, dish soap, and 2x4s lmao.
Ah, but Tesla is really an AI company that happens to sell cars.
- 🪄Musk as he waves away the auditors
Hmm, space is a little different because so many products are one-offs. It’s hard to design checklists and detailed procedures when you’re making what are essentially prototypes each time. So you make more general processes and then your engineers apply them as needed to each unique build. It can end up looking like a bit of a mess. Space builds rely a lot on expert techs, good modular documentation, and multiple layers of engineering oversight because things change along the way and you can’t always plan for it.
I’m a process engineer at a different aerospace company. I standardize as much as I can and work hard to make instructions clear but man it’s a struggle. Boeing’s space group needs to pay people enough to retain good talent, because they’re all making decisions all day long.
Bold assumption that someone has written good, comprehensive checklists. Sounds possible if not likely that they're underpaid and under supported too.
non-competitive pay and retention problems apply to their engineers too
Bruhh this is how it is pretty much everywhere... The thing is even if the employee is competent there are but so many times being told your labour ain't shit, you don't deserve money for it ... How many times of no raise will a good worker take before either changing jobs or just doing work that the wages covers.
About time these" leadership" got exposed for their looting
This is the utopia of capitalism.
Oh, agreed. And partially why I mentioned Boeing getting smeared in the news in my statement too. Pay means a lot but it's not everything. Good managers and work a person can be proud of goes a long way.
Space industry attracts a ton of passionate people who would stick around to do cool things for mediocre pay. But not if the pay gets too low and/or when the work is not something to be proud of.
E g., I've already got a mediocre paycheck, why accept a mediocre paycheck and the grief of a worsening reputation. Someone currently at Boeing for mediocre pay can find another mediocre job elsewhere but it will still be better because the new company isn't getting dragged in front of Congress for killing people to save money.