Counting the costs

Published 9:00 pm Monday, October 3, 2005

Flight International’s Guy Norris http://www.flightinternational.com/Articles/2005/10/04/201914/Boeing+counts+cost+of+strike+action.html estimates that Boeing is probably out $50 million as the result of the strike, in terms of penalties for late deliveries and disruptions in the supply chain.

But those aren’t the only costs, Norris notes.

Key Quote: “Then there is the serious question of how best to bring production back on line without the chaos that came in the wake of the even more damaging 69-day long machinists’ strike in 1995. The shut down was ‘orderly’ and so, Boeing knows to its cost, must be the start-up. Parts and subassemblies for the lines at Everett and Renton were being stockpiled all over the world in some cases, and the strike ended just in time to prevent much more serious long-term production issues.”