SPEEA exec council votes to reject Boeing contract, seek strike authority

1. SPEEA ‏@speea

   @speea Tech Bargaining Unit Council votes UNANIMOUSLY to recommend that the membership REJECT Boeing’s contract offer.

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2. 13m SPEEA ‏@speea

   @speea Tech Bargaining Unit Council votes UNANIMOUSLY to submit strike authorization ballot to the membership.

   Tweets from 15 minutes ago……

Boeing may have battery fix: King 5

KING 5 TV (NBC Seattle) reports Boeing may have a fix for the battery issues on the 787.

Flight Global’s Steve Trimble has this historical perspective on battery technology over the decades. Free registration is required to Flight’s silly “Flight Pro” and then you have to navigate an incredibly annoying home page to find the bloody story. Good luck.

Boeing conference call with 787 update

Boeing held its 2012 earnings call, and with it officials offered an update on the 787 situation.

Jim McNerney (CEO) (JM)

Greg Smith (CFO) (GS)

JM: 787 Update–

Job one on 787 is supporting the investigation on the 787 battery incidents. We rigorously support the process. We do believe good progress is being made in narrowing down the cause. Assigned hundreds of experts within Boeing, brought in outside experts, supporting NTSB, JTSB. We will get to the bottom of this and in so doing restore confidence in the 787. Thanks engineers and all others in investigation. We’ve seen the airplane in service for 15 months and it delivers on promises.

• Progress continues on 787-9, with assembly beginning in mid-2013. First customer delivery on schedule in early 2014.
• The case for the 787-10 has strengthened with a potential launch this year.
• We have more work to do on 777X and this is a big part of the focus this year.

GS:

• Our 2013 guidance assumes no significant financial impact due to 787 issues.
• Expect 635-645 deliveries this year, including 60 787s via rate hike and the reworked airplanes. Deliveries from Everett Mod center will decline.

Q&A

Boeing 2012 results; and comments on 787

BOeing released its 2012 financial results, provided guidance for 2013 and talked about the 787 issues in its press release here.

The webcast is at 10:30 ET and the launching page is here.

“Our first order of business for 2013 is to resolve the battery issue on the 787 and return the airplanes safely to service with our customers.  At the same time, we remain focused on our ongoing priorities of profitable ramp up in commercial airplane production, successful execution of our development programs, and continued growth in core, adjacent and international defense and space markets,” CEO Jim McNerney said in the release.

On January 16, 2013, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an airworthiness directive that resulted in all in-service 787s temporarily ceasing operations.  The company is committed to working with the FAA and other applicable regulatory authorities to return aircraft to service with the full confidence of customers and the traveling public.  While production continues on the 787, the company is suspending deliveries until clearance is granted by the FAA, Boeing stated.

Boeing knew of battery issues: NY Times; ~150 failures–Seattle Times

See this story in the New York Times.

The Seattle Times reports that there have been nearly 150 battery failures.

The Wall Street Journal has this article (subscription required).

What’s the cost of the 787 grounding? See this analysis.

The Harvard Business School has this analysis.

The Seattle Times has this report about Cessna using a different on-board system than Boeing to protect against ion battery fires.