https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-28/boeing-s-737-max-software-out...



technology


By Peter Robison

June 29, 2019, 6:46 AM GMT+10


Planemaker and suppliers used lower-paid temporary workers
Engineers feared the practice meant code wasn’t done right.

It remains the mystery at the heart of Boeing Co.’s 737 Max crisis: how a company renowned for meticulous design made seemingly basic software mistakes leading to a pair of deadly crashes. Longtime Boeing engineers say the effort was complicated by a push to outsource work to lower-paid contractors.

The Max software -- plagued by issues that could keep the planes grounded months longer after U.S. regulators this week revealed a new flaw -- was developed at a time Boeing was laying off experienced engineers and pressing suppliers to cut costs.

Increasingly, the iconic American planemaker and its subcontractors have relied on temporary workers making as little as $9 an hour to develop and test software, often from countries lacking a deep background in aerospace
- notably India.

The coders from HCL were typically designing to specifications set by Boeing. Still, “it was controversial because it was far less efficient than Boeing engineers just writing the code,” Rabin said. Frequently, he recalled, “it took many rounds going back and forth because the code was not done correctly.”

Boeing’s cultivation of Indian companies appeared to pay other dividends. In recent years, it has won several orders for Indian military and commercial aircraft, such as a $22 billion one in January 2017 to supply SpiceJet Ltd. That order included 100 737-Max 8 jets and represented Boeing’s largest order ever from an Indian airline, a coup in a country dominated by Airbus.

Based on resumes posted on social media, HCL engineers helped develop and test the Max’s flight-display software, while employees from another Indian company, Cyient Ltd., handled software for flight-test equipment

I actually got to speak to the Head of QANTAS maintenance (at the time) and asked the Question: "Why did you move your maintenance offshore to Malaysia?"
They answered the usual

"Because Australian labour is too expensive."

I didn't bother answering

"That's because Australian consumerism and cost of living is the highest in the world."

Yep - charging consumers a fortune while paying for the cheapest labour.

makes me glad I am not flying anywhere any time soon....


come on bobby  this could be good news for the environment     no planes people cancelling by the thousands....I mean isnt Boeing the leading plane manufacturer???....

Boeing has a long record of bastardry

Twenty or so years ago, three women who worked for Boeing became aware that sub-standard materials and labour were being 'passed'

The women took it to those who're supposed to ensure that doesn't happen.  They were told to shut up

Knowing lives were at stake, the women took it higher.  Again, told to keep quiet .. or

Still alarmed at the potential cost in human lives, the women kept pressing for something to be done about the situation

in the end, they were sacked

These were women with families and mortgages.  It was in their own interests to shut up and look for work to keep their own families and lives safe

but as fate would have it, those three women became heroes and they risked all to bring the Boeing situation to the attention of various US politicians, media, etc.

Boeing set out to break them completely.  They lost homes and families in their quest

then the truth about Boeing's cost cutting became headlines.  Not sure how it happened.  But it was after the women were dragged into court, possibly

end result was, the women were exonerated

too late for them personally.  Their fight had taken a heavy toll on their lives

but they won what then was believed to be a victory and Boeing had to apologise and maybe had to pay compensation to the women.  Of course, Boeing mouthed about 'lessons having been learned'

Words

and here they are at it again

caught at it, over and over

Americans online say the only reason Boeing's still in the business is because they have federal contracts

Bobby. wrote on Jan 19^th, 2020 at 8:02am:


You do realize that share holders greed is the most important thing in the Universe don't you ?

Sir lastnail wrote on Jan 19^th, 2020 at 9:40am:



Very soon there won't be a Boeing company -
the company is dying from all their cost cutting
and sacrificing their customers on the altar of greed.

Saw a Indian comedian on one of those Comedy TV shows few weeks back.
His entire theme of Act was based upon his bowels, turds, toilets, etc.

Yuck.

When I was in Kathmandu - the Indians were trying to sell me 12 year old girls for $A 5. That Indian is cashing in big time! $200 for 45 mins. I later found out that the correct 'local' price for the 'girls' was $A 10c. The Indian side of Nepalese life is very disgusting. Apparently I also found that the Indian Guru who would swing a big rock with his stretched foreskin charged more.