Not thrilled with having to fly on a Boeing plane.

[floridafam]

I enjoy flying and won’t stop but I’m still concerned about the frequency of issues, big and small.

 

[goofyernmost]

When I first starting flying places in 1967 I had no idea what to expect. The noises, the groans, the multitude of other things that are new. My Father had been a mechanic on the infamous P47 aircraft during the second world war. He never in his entire life ever actually rode in a plane. I heard repeatedly how he knew what could go wrong with them and therefore would not fly in one. Can you imagine how nervous I was on my first flight. One of my only two thoughts I had was there was a lot of time between 1944 and 1967 so things were probably a lot more advanced over the years and second, even though I wasn't hoping for planes the crash the more they happened previous to my flying, the better my odds that things were going to be just fine.

One thing one must remember is that Boeing may have built them but they do not maintain them. That is something that the airlines do, so if I were to be concerned about it I would probably look to see if any particular airline is having problems and not blame the builder until it is determined that the problem was engineering.

There are a whole lot of people that have flown millions of miles with no problems. I have probably not done much more than the cumulative distance of about three times around the world. Never had a bad experience with equipment. I did occasionally find a few people that worked for them to be less than enjoyable.

 

[Karin1984]

https://apnews.com/article/southwest-plane-boeing-dutch-roll-828216b5dc18bfb29264b59debf071f0

Ah 'Dutch roll' is an expression... not something Dutch
Still not 100% fluent in English!

 

[fly girl]

The incident over Oklahoma on Wednesday, the engine issue with the Air Canada flight, another engine fire in India, and the Dutch roll a few weeks ago. All Boeing aircraft. I just don't understand what's going on. It seems ridiculous at this point. Are we hearing more about things when they happen because of all the scrutiny Boeing is under or what?

I enjoy flying and won’t stop but I’m still concerned about the frequency of issues, big and small.

Boeing is a hot click right now, so anything the media can do to get you to stop and click/watch it is going to use it. Some of it is absolutely warranted. However, a lot of it is just to get paid. They are mentioning issues that are common occurrences - flat tires, bird strikes, etc. The problem is if you aren't in the "know" then it all seems like Boeing is falling apart at the seams. But a good portion is just overblown by the media for the almighty dollar.

First, with engine issues, that's not even Boeing! Boeing doesn't make the engines. GE, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls Royce do. As for the Air Canada incident, that was a compressor stall that can happen with a bird strike.

As for the Oklahoma and Hawaii incidents, both likely pilot error. You cannot put that on Boeing. I will save my rant about current pilot hiring for another day.

When I first starting flying places in 1967 I had no idea what to expect. The noises, the groans, the multitude of other things that are new. My Father had been a mechanic on the infamous P47 aircraft during the second world war. He never in his entire life ever actually rode in a plane. I heard repeatedly how he knew what could go wrong with them and therefore would not fly in one. Can you imagine how nervous I was on my first flight. One of my only two thoughts I had was there was a lot of time between 1944 and 1967 so things were probably a lot more advanced over the years and second, even though I wasn't hoping for planes the crash the more they happened previous to my flying, the better my odds that things were going to be just fine.

One thing one must remember is that Boeing may have built them but they do not maintain them. That is something that the airlines do, so if I were to be concerned about it I would probably look to see if any particular airline is having problems and not blame the builder until it is determined that the problem was engineering.

There are a whole lot of people that have flown millions of miles with no problems. I have probably not done much more than the cumulative distance of about three times around the world. Never had a bad experience with equipment. I did occasionally find a few people that worked for them to be less than enjoyable.

No doubt airlines have responsibility for maintenance, 100% agree. But the 737MAX issues is not with any airline, it is 100% on Boeing. They really need to clean house and start fresh to rebuild. When you really look back at their history you will see how it has shifted from safety being the priority to money being the priority. When they outsourced in the 2000 time frame that is where you can start to see the shift.

 

[mikehn]

I was on a boeing 737 max recently. Tell you the truth, rental car horrors were on my mind during the entire flight.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

I’m flying next weekend and it’s on Max 8. Not super thrilled. But I just tell myself whenever I fly that the pilots don’t want to die or kill anyone and the maintenance crew don’t want to be responsible for the deaths of 150+ people either.

 

[DVCjj]

I fly about 6 times a year in UA Boeings.

I’m far more concerned about the abundance of lunetic drivers to and from the airport.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

I do not even pay attention to what type of airplane when I pick my flight. People overthink to much.

 

[goofyernmost]

I used to pay attention but than I wondered why. If I was going someplace I had to take he plane that was going where I wanted to go. My first plane trip was a European tour sponsored by Alitalia Airline and my College. My first flight was from Montreal to Lisbon and the first plane was a DC-8. There was a massive number of airlines after that as we hopped around to Spain, France, Italy and London. If it was any distance at all it was with a DC-8. I did however have one flight from Venice to Rome and that was in a rickety old DC-3. It did make it but not without a little excitement of a sudden downdraft. What fun. Talk about your life flashing past, but I was only 18 at the time so there wasn't a lot to see in that rerun. Apparently we made it OK or there is internet in Heaven.

Most of my flights including the big one's to and from Vietnam were with DC-8's that had been taken out of public service, had the seats moved closer together and were used as a cattle shuttle moving military personally around. The personnel were about in the same condition as the planes, but for some reason I had complete faith in those DC-8's and I suspect most of my air travel in my life has been in a McDonnell/Douglas aircraft. I never really liked Boeing. I don't know why I just didn't like the design, number of engines and the location of them. From what I understand M/D sold out to Boeing so that is sad in itself so there is no longer a DC line.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

Wouldn’t be worried at all about a Boeing plane but boy i would not want to be one of the astronauts taking that space craft back to earth.