Boeing (BA) And Airbus: Can Anyone Still Build A Plane?

Boeing (BA) is experiencing problems completing the first planes in its new 787 Dreamliner series. The fuselage sections of the aircraft don’t fit together right. It would seem an issue like that would make the planes hard to fly, but maybe not. There also appears to be a shortage of fasteners for the planes. Without them, the major parts of the aircraft will not hold together.

Since the 787 has been on the drawing boards and in some part of the production process for almost 10 years, it might be fair to assume that putting together big pieces of the plan would work OK. But, Boeing rival Airbus has been having similar problems.

Airbus has only 13 orders for its new A350 which competes with the 787. That may seem like a good start, but the 787 has 600 orders at this point. The Wall Street Journal says that the A350 had to go through its own growing pains because it was not fuel-efficient or easy to maintain. The plane had to be redesigned. Airbus has similar, but more serious problems with its A380 super-jumbo jet, which gave Boeing a leg up selling its largest aircraft, the 747-8.

The flying public may not be concerned that the parts don’t fit on these planes, but it probably bothers Wall St. It is a hell of a way to run a railroad.

Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at [email protected]. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.