{"id":87395,"date":"2009-12-17T17:23:32","date_gmt":"2009-12-17T22:23:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seattletimes.nwsource.com\/html\/northwestvoices\/2010535685_boeings787monumentaldepartureandarrival.html?syndication=rss"},"modified":"2009-12-17T17:23:32","modified_gmt":"2009-12-17T22:23:32","slug":"boeings-787-monumental-departure-and-arrival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/87395","title":{"rendered":"Boeing’s 787 monumental departure and arrival"},"content":{"rendered":"

Great day in history, ironic photo of past<\/strong><\/p>\n

Editor, The Times:<\/p>\n

It was a great day for Boeing with the successful launch of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner\u2019s first flight.<\/p>\n

I could not help but react to the picture on page A17 that so illuminated the reason for the two- <\/span>year manufacturing delay [\u201cBuilding the 787,\u201d News, Dec. 15], as well the long strike by the Machinists union.<\/p>\n

The photo of June Trubshaw holding a picket sign that reads, \u201cFair Contract Now,\u201d says all that needs to be said about the 787 delay.<\/p>\n

Every three years the union complains that the contract is unfair and then the negotiations begin on a new agreement. Three years later, the previously agreed to agreement is unfair and new negotiations begin again.<\/p>\n

The \u201cFair Contract Now\u201d sign is a symbol of the overall malaise that has taken over the production of new aircraft in the Puget Sound.<\/p>\n

The opportunity was available during the recent showdown between the union and Boeing for the union to eliminate a second production line in South Carolina. The union refused to believe that Boeing would relocate production out of the Pacific Northwest, and now there is a new 787 production line being established in South Carolina.<\/p>\n

I hope Trubshaw is satisfied that her effort, on behalf of her union, helped Boeing to make the decision it did.<\/p>\n

The picture says more than a thousand words.<\/p>\n

\u2014 James M. Clark, Edmonds<\/em><\/p>\n

Big whoop \u2014 enjoy your flight<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a new plane with new innovations and improvements, which hasn\u2019t made its way to the airline industry yet [\u201cSpirits soar on 787\u2019s wings,\u201d page one, Dec. 16].<\/p>\n

When the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner does make it to the airline industry, chances are it will take to the bank whatever cost-effective money-saving measures were invented, and innovative designs will either not be passed on to customers or be considered luxuries worth charging more for.<\/p>\n

By the time the airlines are done picking it apart and parsing the extra tiers of cost, there will be so many layers of haves and have nots that those in the bottom half of the bottom tiers will feel more like outcasts than valued passengers.<\/p>\n

And for all the gee-whiz improvements, passengers at the gate, delayed, denied and frustrated will be in no mood to care.<\/p>\n

Boeing\u2019s engineering feats will be wasted by airlines more interested in salvaging profit at the expense of customer satisfaction.<\/p>\n

Enjoy your flight.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Mike Moore, Kent<\/em><\/p>\n

Making Washington a right-to-work state<\/strong><\/p>\n

Indeed \u201cStrike history colors Boeing decisions,\u201d [Opinion, editorial, Dec. 9], and the Pacific Northwest lost, as The Times noted.<\/p>\n

Consider this only the latest in a series of Boeing decisions. The International Association of Machinists leadership still considers this move to South Carolina a company error and no fault of theirs.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t expect a change in attitude.<\/p>\n

Unions have a history of escalating behavior, and kill or cripple industries (coal, railroads, airlines), companies (Ford, GM and Chrysler), even countries (France and Germany). To avoid a similar fate, the Pacific Northwest needs community action to preserve aerospace jobs.<\/p>\n

It will take determined political leadership, but changing Washington to a right-to-work state would have the desired effect. It would also give the governor options, which Gov. Chris Gregoire currently lacks, to deal with the state budget crises in a logical fashion.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Lionel C. Bohrer, Federal Way<\/em><\/p>\n

Editorial ignores historical outsourcing facts<\/strong><\/p>\n

The recent editorial claiming that Boeing\u2019s moves to the South was not outsourcing ignores the historical facts.<\/p>\n

In the 1950s, long before jobs were being sent to Mexico or Asia, the Southern states, determined to preserve their low-wage economies and make sure that unions would not force blacks and whites to work side-by-side for the same wage, instituted so-called right-to-work laws.<\/p>\n

Corporations, particularly the auto industry, moved jobs to the low-wage South, devastating much of the Northern auto industry.<\/p>\n

This was the original outsourcing, and we are feeling its effects even today.<\/p>\n

\u2014 David Echols, Kirkland<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Great day in history, ironic photo of past Editor, The Times: It was a great day for Boeing with the successful launch of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner\u2019s first flight. I could not help but react to the picture on page A17 that so illuminated the reason for the two- year manufacturing delay [\u201cBuilding the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87395\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}