A discount not worth taking

 A discount not worth taking

In their rush to get the 737 Max into the skies, Boeing execs hit upon a marketing ploy. They offered Southwest Airlines, considering purchasing two hundred of the 737 Max, a million dollar per plane discount if Boeing was required by the FAA to have pilots take flight simulator training on the Max. This would cost the airline time and money getting the Max operational. So Southwest bought into Boeing’s scheme, not demanding simulator training as part of its huge purchase. Boeing successfully lobbied the FAA to approve of the Max without having to incur pilot simulator training by falsely claiming the Max was just a minor upgrade to the most current 737, the NG. It wasn’t. Its design flaw, engines so large they risked stalling the plane in flight, was catastrophic.

The FAA, cutting corners itself, said ‘Sure’ and everyone benefited. Southwest got the Max operating on schedule to increase profits. Boeing avoided a million dollar a plane penalty while increasing its profits. The FAA saved money and manpower not extending the approval process; relying instead on Boeing expertise and honesty. But 347 passengers and crew on two foreign airlines paid a steep penalty…their lives, when the defective and criminally certified airplane foiled two airplane crews’ valiant efforts to keep the Max planes from their death dive. Had Southwest execs simply told Boeing to forget the discount offer, demanding that the substantially different Max require pilot simulator training, those 347 folks would still be walking around. And Boeing would not have traded a few billions in quick profits for the so far $18 billion and rising cost of doing right what they should have from the get-go.

That’s American capitalism at work…cutting corners which sometimes cuts down lives.