[quarterdime]

There are numerous reports on debris (metal shavings, tools, and even a whole ladder) being discovered in aircraft by customers after delivery. This requires not only that assembly signed off on the aircraft, but that the issues are not discovered in final inspection either.

Some reporting suggests several major customers (airlines) were so fed up with this 'foreign object debris' (metal shavings etc) problem that they said they would only accept aircraft from Washington. From your story, I can't help but wonder if Boeing management got around this by flying near-complete aircraft from SC to WA to get around this.

To give you a sense of how bad this debris issue is: the US Air Force refused delivery of new air tankers after finding debris (in fuel tanks if I remember correctly).

[rob74]

The story about airlines only accepting 787 aircraft from Washington was from the time when it was still being assembled in two plants (Everett, WA and North Charleston, SC). Since March 2021 (according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_787_Dreamliner), the only plant assembling 787s is the SC plant, which is cheaper and non-unionized. I guess that's more important to Boeing than occasional quality issues...

[posguy]

Hiring mechanics & technicians for Boeing in the Pacific Northwest is also quite difficult with their poor reputation, middling pay and the high cost of living. FAANG has increased the cost of living in the region to the point of pricing out whole neighborhoods that used to be Boeing employees, pushing them out of the inner suburbs.

[blarg1]

it's a complementary ladder