This. Even is Boeing had to drop out of the airplane game _entirely_, they have a ton of other lines of business.
If another 737 Max crashed then that would be the end of the Max, IMO, but I doubt older 737s would be dropped and Boeing would still be around easily enough.
- Boeing is certainly well financially engineered in many financial vehicles,
- It’s alone the #1 net exporter of USA,
- USA needs Boeing, whether it exports or not. Boeing also funds candidates, just mentioning.
- Existing conpanies need to maintain their existing planes, and they need Boeing’s consultancy for that,
- I’d say even Airbus needs their competitor, or they would fall in a dangerous monopolistic position.
As much as one would enjoy the spectacle of a corrupted eating the dust, it is probably too stable to happen. But ever heard of De Havailland? That’s probably to do with their 4 crashes in a row, due to its airframe shredding of metal fatigue and material constraints being concentrated on the edges of their square windows. Ever flew in a DC-10 or MD-11? That’s probably to do with their 4 crashes in a raw, for a bad doorlock. Just saying.
But in the days of de Havailland & McD-D, there were maybe half a dozen companies which made airliners. That's a much more Adam-Smith world than when there are exactly two.
If another 737 Max crashed then that would be the end of the Max, IMO, but I doubt older 737s would be dropped and Boeing would still be around easily enough.