Boeing (BA) has already suffered the ignominy of three delays in the launch of its new Dreamliner jet. The tardiness of the project will cost the company revenue, at least in the next year. It has also made Boeing’s best customers angry. That does not matter so much because they have no place to turn other than Airbus, which is also perennially late with its aircraft deliveries.
Boeing faces a new challenge in launching its products. It is short on toilets for the planes.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Boeing and Airbus face "a shortage of less-advanced equipment such as seats, toilets and galleys that is slowing down their assembly lines."
The people who handle product development and strategic sourcing at Boeing are boneheads. Dunces make poor executives and Boeing’s shareholders are paying for that.
Not only is revenue being deferred, some of it may be lost. Boeing customers are starting to ask for reparations for the late planes and their claims are equitable. The plane manufacturer did offer a money-back guarantee on delivery dates. The spring and fall equinox have passed several times since the original delivery dates.
Boeing’s shares have dropped from a 52-week high of $107.15 to $64.69. Much of that has to do with fears that a global economic slowdown could hurt the company’s business, but a great deal of it has to do with product delays.
How will the shareholders be compensated for the remarkably poor management? Each on will be sent a toilet seat. That is, when they come in.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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