These are the logical consequences of a society where money is the single and only measure of success.

For decades Boeing concentrated on putting out the finest jet airplanes they could. They made steady, handsome profits.

But fairly recently, their management decided that windfall, short-term profits trumped all other metrics, so they cut things that sociopaths think of as unnecessary, like quality.

The current debacle is the logical consequence of this irrational and profoundly selfish delusion.

I have strongly avoided flying for years due to the climate crisis and it's somewhat likely that I'll never fly again. But if I do, from now on I'm going to be avoiding recent model Boeing planes.

A nice story from about five years ago - I was getting on a plane somewhere for what I thought was going to be a small plane commuter hop and then I saw the spiral stairs and I turned to my wife and said something like, "Wow, it's a 747!" and one of the crew said, "Yes, a 400!" and we both beamed at each other.

I have managed to achieve pretty well every goal I had in life up to a certain point, partly due to realism, but there are a few I haven't and might never, and one is to have drinks in the lounge on a 747, though I believe I got a peak at one in the mid-seventies as a kid.

Thanks for a fascinating article!