xt2 Loc: British Columbia, Canada

Another example, sad as it is... of America slipping away into oblivion.

mtcoothaman Loc: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

There used to be a saying among some aircraft technical people "If it aint Boeing I aint going ". Not so sure now.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Boeing made a lot of money for a lot of people by cutting costs. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

Morry Loc: Palm Springs, CA

These overly paid executives are one of the main reasons for our hugely underpaid low pay scale tier of workers in this country. And some of them even get away without paying their full share of income taxes. In California where I live we needed a statewide voting initiative to get these low paid workers a minimum wage increase of $4.00 per hour from $16. to $20. per hour. Even with this wage increase they are far from being able to buy real estate of any kind.
Forty, fifty years ago we were living what became known as "The American Dream". Today we are living "The Corporate Dream".

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Well, you have to remember who makes the laws. The difference between what the boss makes and what the workers make has expanded tremendously over the years. I get a kick out of companies saying they can't afford to increase wages or offer better benefits.

Caribou Loc: St. Louis, MO

Boeing's reputation has clearly been damaged and justifiably so. What I don't get is why you never hear criticism of the Board of Directors. They hire these people and approve ridiculous compensation packages only to have them run the companies into the ground. I worked for a very large company and I was always struck by the emphasis on the "top line" (because the stock market likes to see that--thus the value of their stock options gets juiced) often at the expense of prudent business practices. I came to the conclusion that the people at the top win either way. They do imprudent things that grow the top line and maybe get away with it and they get the big compensation. Or, they gamble and do things that ultimately cause big problems but they still walk away with big dollars and someone else has to clean it up and this often rolls downhill and adversely affects the employees. The boards are often just rubber stamps because they are frequently symbolic and don't really know what's going on.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

You are correct, unfortunately. Trying to keep stockholders happy is a big part of the problem. Would there have been a Great Depression without the stock market?

One problem with Boards of Directors is the fact that many directors sit on several boards. It's an, "I'll scratch your back, and you scratch mine" situation. The government has been looking into this situation, but I doubt it's going to change.

Doyle Thomas Loc: Vancouver Washington ~ USA

As a result of the recent failures and scandels at BA i have sold off my stock holdings.

sjb3

I remember seeing a documentary many years ago on that same subject. Folks there had some truly remarkable cottage industries fabricating various parts to keep those classic cars running; they had no other choice.

ecblackiii Loc: Maryland

I agree that a lot of people are vastly overpaid in our society! Among them are professional athletes, television and movie stars, musical and dramatic entertainers, celebrities, social influencers, stockbrokers, and others who collect huge salaries for producing nothing in the way of food, shelter, or useful items for improving the lives of society. A great example is Taylor Swift, who has collected over a billion dollars on her current tour, for nothing more useful than entertaining people with a couple of hours of diversion from life.

By comparison corporation executives and boards produce meaningful and valuable products that people need for daily life. They are vastly underpaid in comparison to the idiotic celebrities that people worship.

paulrph1 Loc: Washington, Utah

In an automobile it is call planned obsolescence. But that does not seem to apply to aircraft.

KolorFotoBug Loc: Massachusetts

Too bad for Boeing that the focused on the bottom line over doing the right thing and safety. Corporate culture often reflects senior leadership. A friend of mine says "When a fish stinks, it stinks from the head down".

JoeBiker Loc: homebase: Houston, TX

I was in Cuba last month. There are other (non-US) cars on the street: Kia, Hyundai, Skoda, etc. But, still a surprising number of classic US cars. Most, but not all, are for taxis and tourists.

We went for a joy ride in an classic convertible. We had no problem; but another car, that our friends were in, broke down. No problema: a few other drivers stopped to help, and it was running again in no time.