Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Airbus continue to have trouble designing and manufacturing large airplanes that do not break. The Airbus super jumbo A380 has had wing crack problems. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner production was delay seven times because of parts and labor problems. The Wall Street Journal reports:
Boeing Co. and U.S. safety officials are investigating the engine problems that saw debris from a new 787 Dreamliner spark a grass fire at Charleston International Airport in South Carolina during a preflight test.
The incident is probably isolated, but that does not help Boeing’s case that the Dreamliner is finally a perfect airplane.
Douglas A. McIntyre
