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Boeing 737: The World's Most Controversial Commercial Jetliner
An in-depth history of the controversial airplane, from its design, development and service to politics, power struggles, and more.The Boeing 737 is an American short- to medium-range twinjet narrow-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, a division of the Boeing Company. Originally designed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from the 707 and 727, the 737 has grown into a family of passenger models with capacities from 85 to 215 passengers, the most recent version of which, the 737 MAX, has become embroiled in a worldwide controversy.Initially envisioned in 1964, the first 737-100 made its first flight in April 1967 and entered airline service in February 1968 with Lufthansa. The 737 series went on to become one of the highest-selling commercial jetliners in history and has been in production in its core form since 1967; the 10,000th example was rolled out on 13 March 2018.There is, however, a very different side to the convoluted story of the 737’s development, one that demonstrates a transition of power from a primarily engineering structure to one of accountancy, number-driven powerbase that saw corners cut, and the previous extremely high safety methodology compromised. The result was the 737 MAX. Having entered service in 2017, this model was grounded worldwide in March 2019 following two devastating crashes.?In this revealing insight into the Boeing 737, the renowned aviation historian Graham M. Simons examines its design, development and service over the decades since 1967. He also explores the darker side of the 737’s history, laying bare the politics, power-struggles, changes of management ideology and battles with Airbus that culminated in the 737 MAX debacle that has threatened Boeing’s very survival.
- GenresAviation
289 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 1, 2022
62 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 23, 2021
How Boeing lost its way.
Good coverage of the design and development of the aircraft. Beyond the technical and operational story, it is the business story which generates additional in depth analysis from the author.
The history of the 737 is in two parts, because the Boeing culture changed after the McDonnell Douglas merger which turned out to be a reverse takeover of Boeing by the Douglas management. Engineering and safety of the product took a back seat to a focus of cost containment and financial performance. As a result the first versions of the plane were developed within a different company culture. The later versions reflect the values of a senior management dominated by financial experts on the Board with no background in manufacturing or engineering.
There have been issues with the 737; first generations jets experienced two crashes because of a design flaw with the rudder mechanism. It took several years and a lot of research to finally find out the technical culprit and one could say that Boeing was not especially cooperative with the FAA to do a thorough fact finding. But the development of the MAX is of another nature. Boeing developed that version as a stop gap measure against the Airbus 320Neo. The plane from their competitor is from a later generation, using modern computerized systems and fly by wire flight controls. Many flight controls of the 737 copy the same cable and pulley hardware in use in the first generation 707 from 1958. Why? Because Boeing certifies all its 737 model derivatives from its original 1967 certificate; changing too many systems means that it is a different model that would need to go through a new certification process instead of just an update. Meanwhile, the FAA with the influence of major corporations and the collaboration of Congress lost financing and means and became a rubber stamping operation for the new MAX design. The FAA did not play its role, with the result that a flawed design took to the air. Individuals knowingly accepted the flaws and acted out of expediency pressurised by a greedy management; criminal investigations are on going at this time.
Beyond design flaws, the author notes that Boeing also lost its way with the quality of its manufacturing with errors such as foreign objects left in planes (such as rags and tools left in petrol tanks, which could cause engines to stop in flight!) and shoddy work. Some 787 models and KC 46 tankers were returned to Boeing by airlines and the US Air force because of their manufacturing defects. An airline has cancelled its order of the new 777X because it does not meet the level of performance promised. Overextending the life of a model for short term financial gain has tarnished the reputation of the sole manufacturer of airliners left in the US. The international leadership of the FAA has also suffered with the result that other certification bodies no longer rely on the FAA processes in their decision making.
The short term financial gain focus got Boeing management to dispute an order for C Series planes built by Bombardier. A US tribunal rejected the arguments from Boeing; Delta airlines was free to purchase the planes without penalty. Meanwhile Bombardier looking for long term financial backing looked for Airbus as a partner. So the Boeing manoeuver has helped its immediate competitor which has added the best and newest airliner of its category to its portofolio of products as the Airbus A-220. I am pretty sure that the original designers of the 707, 727, 747, 757 and 767 would feel quite sad with the turn of events of the last few years. . A Boeing CEO proudly stated in 2003 that he had transformed a great engineering firm into a business oriented corporation. That man was paid millions to destroy a great corporate culture. As a result Boeing is no longer Boeing.
Good coverage of the design and development of the aircraft. Beyond the technical and operational story, it is the business story which generates additional in depth analysis from the author.
The history of the 737 is in two parts, because the Boeing culture changed after the McDonnell Douglas merger which turned out to be a reverse takeover of Boeing by the Douglas management. Engineering and safety of the product took a back seat to a focus of cost containment and financial performance. As a result the first versions of the plane were developed within a different company culture. The later versions reflect the values of a senior management dominated by financial experts on the Board with no background in manufacturing or engineering.
There have been issues with the 737; first generations jets experienced two crashes because of a design flaw with the rudder mechanism. It took several years and a lot of research to finally find out the technical culprit and one could say that Boeing was not especially cooperative with the FAA to do a thorough fact finding. But the development of the MAX is of another nature. Boeing developed that version as a stop gap measure against the Airbus 320Neo. The plane from their competitor is from a later generation, using modern computerized systems and fly by wire flight controls. Many flight controls of the 737 copy the same cable and pulley hardware in use in the first generation 707 from 1958. Why? Because Boeing certifies all its 737 model derivatives from its original 1967 certificate; changing too many systems means that it is a different model that would need to go through a new certification process instead of just an update. Meanwhile, the FAA with the influence of major corporations and the collaboration of Congress lost financing and means and became a rubber stamping operation for the new MAX design. The FAA did not play its role, with the result that a flawed design took to the air. Individuals knowingly accepted the flaws and acted out of expediency pressurised by a greedy management; criminal investigations are on going at this time.
Beyond design flaws, the author notes that Boeing also lost its way with the quality of its manufacturing with errors such as foreign objects left in planes (such as rags and tools left in petrol tanks, which could cause engines to stop in flight!) and shoddy work. Some 787 models and KC 46 tankers were returned to Boeing by airlines and the US Air force because of their manufacturing defects. An airline has cancelled its order of the new 777X because it does not meet the level of performance promised. Overextending the life of a model for short term financial gain has tarnished the reputation of the sole manufacturer of airliners left in the US. The international leadership of the FAA has also suffered with the result that other certification bodies no longer rely on the FAA processes in their decision making.
The short term financial gain focus got Boeing management to dispute an order for C Series planes built by Bombardier. A US tribunal rejected the arguments from Boeing; Delta airlines was free to purchase the planes without penalty. Meanwhile Bombardier looking for long term financial backing looked for Airbus as a partner. So the Boeing manoeuver has helped its immediate competitor which has added the best and newest airliner of its category to its portofolio of products as the Airbus A-220. I am pretty sure that the original designers of the 707, 727, 747, 757 and 767 would feel quite sad with the turn of events of the last few years. . A Boeing CEO proudly stated in 2003 that he had transformed a great engineering firm into a business oriented corporation. That man was paid millions to destroy a great corporate culture. As a result Boeing is no longer Boeing.
January 10, 2022
A good explanation of what went wrong
I worked with some of the people discussed in other projects. I believe the author got it right, when you focus on cost and share holder return, you get trouble. Cost, schedule, and performance should be performance, schedule and cost.
I worked with some of the people discussed in other projects. I believe the author got it right, when you focus on cost and share holder return, you get trouble. Cost, schedule, and performance should be performance, schedule and cost.
September 12, 2021
Good review of the 737 but needs tighter narrative
I wanted to learn about the 737 so I checked out this book. Found too many topics like finances and office politics made this book a slow read. But sure appreciated the history lessons on the evolution of the 737.
Of course this book dives deep into the failings of the 737 MAX. A decent overview of the engineering problems and assumptions that doomed the MAX to grounding. Don’t want to ruin the book but it’s all about the balance of the jet being asked to do more than designed in the 1960s.
I wanted to learn about the 737 so I checked out this book. Found too many topics like finances and office politics made this book a slow read. But sure appreciated the history lessons on the evolution of the 737.
Of course this book dives deep into the failings of the 737 MAX. A decent overview of the engineering problems and assumptions that doomed the MAX to grounding. Don’t want to ruin the book but it’s all about the balance of the jet being asked to do more than designed in the 1960s.
March 16, 2022
Author Graham Simons tackles the darker side of the Boeing 737s history. He holds no punches in his detailed examination of Boeing management. And while he is to be commended for his effort, the book does have some flaws. Checking the trivial items from the list are the numerous typos and one factual error that I found (on page 158 the author claims the MAX 7’s cruise speed is .68 Mach. Not likely). What really hurts this work, however, is the repeated inclusion of extraneous and unnecessary facts. 2 pages dedicated to listing the names of Boeing staff at worldwide field offices, in the 1970’s no less. A sequence of 12 photos showing a flight attendant demonstrating proper operation of the main cabin door. And how about a 4-page “cut and paste” from Boeing’s 2019 annual report? There are other of these non-germane excursions which make the book a bit of a slog.
But what shines is the author’s tenacious and unbiased dive into the workings of Boeing management. And the MAX disaster is not the only Boeing 737 debacle. Often forgotten, and at the time neatly disguised, were the early 1990’s rudder malfunctions, two of which lead to fatal accidents. The malfeasance reported by Simons puts a tarnish on Boeing, one of America’s most prestigious industrial firms. But the truth must be told and I applaud Mr. Simons for producing an honest tome and not another Boeing pep rally.
A more streamlined book with critical editing would have warranted the coveted 5-stars.
But what shines is the author’s tenacious and unbiased dive into the workings of Boeing management. And the MAX disaster is not the only Boeing 737 debacle. Often forgotten, and at the time neatly disguised, were the early 1990’s rudder malfunctions, two of which lead to fatal accidents. The malfeasance reported by Simons puts a tarnish on Boeing, one of America’s most prestigious industrial firms. But the truth must be told and I applaud Mr. Simons for producing an honest tome and not another Boeing pep rally.
A more streamlined book with critical editing would have warranted the coveted 5-stars.
June 8, 2023
I liked the cutaway drawings and pictures and some of the writing and details, but author's tone and the way he goes on and on and then back and forth. Also very eurocentric approach to the topic too much listing the competition specifically the subsidized airbus and too much focus on scandal. It almost reads like he is slamming the grand accomplishment that the 737 is and has been and continues to be, even the title is a misnomer since the book isn't a complete critique of the 737 series. for sentimental reasons I am very partial to the 737 and more so the -800.
July 26, 2024
Review to follow
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews