Chapter 389 The hearing begins! The target of public criticism!
Just as the hearing on ANA Flight 45 was underway at the Japanese Ministry of Transport, it was still a little after nine o'clock in the evening of September 10th in the United States across the ocean.
Even though it was almost ten o'clock in the evening, the lights were still on on the top floor of Boeing's headquarters building. For Americans, who attach great importance to working hours, working overtime until late at night is indeed rare, especially for leaders.
The reason why Boeing seems to be facing a formidable enemy is that Airbus recently revealed the research and development project of a new generation of twin-engine wide-body aircraft.
In a small conference room, Boeing President Lance Tamir was drinking coffee. In the middle of the room, Boeing's Chief Information Officer (CIO) Frith Hayes was reporting the latest information to Lance Tamir.
"With the limited information we have now, EADS and BAE have approved the relevant research and development project and named it A350," said Frith Hayes.
Lance Tamir turned his back to Ferris Hayes and said in a low voice, "But there has been no relevant information before. This means that the decision was made recently. Doesn't this seem too sudden?"
"It should have been decided recently. Before that, there was no information about the A350 or similar projects. From common sense, Airbus' wide-body aircraft should focus on the A380 at this stage. According to their aviation hub plan, as the top transportation mode, shouldn't the A380 be the main force? Then where is the positioning of the A350? Isn't this contrary to their aviation hub plan?"
"In our expectation, the four-engine large passenger aircraft has reached its end, but Airbus doesn't think so..." Lance Tamir frowned, "Or maybe Airbus has changed its mind and feels that the four-engine wide-body aircraft has reached a dead end. However, the A380 has just been put into commercial use and the cost has exceeded by more than double. If it changes its mind so quickly, then the previous 20 billion US dollars has been wasted?"
The A380 project had just been put into commercial service, which means that the project had not yet generated any revenue, and the project was seriously overspent. Why did Airbus immediately announce another twin-engine wide-body aircraft project? Does Airbus have so much spare money?
Lance Tamir doesn't think so.
If Airbus was really that rich, its current rotten stock price would not be so sour, and Airbus would have taken action to save itself long ago.
“Perhaps, the A350 is not a competitor to the 747, nor a derivative of the A380, but a competitor to the 787?”
Lance Tamir turned around suddenly and asked: "Do they think the 330 can't hold up to the 787?"
"Isn't this obvious?" Frith Hayes smiled. "Some airlines have even scrapped their original A330 purchase plans and are purchasing 777s as a transitional product to the 787. Nowadays, speed and weight are not the most important criteria in the market. Operating costs are the golden rule that determines everything. Judging from the feedback from 787 orders, the path we have chosen for wide-body aircraft is undoubtedly the right one."
Airbus and Boeing have completely different views on the future trend of the wide-body aircraft market.
Airbus believes that the wide-body aircraft market is still in a period of rapid growth, and faster and larger aircraft are the most important criteria. The product of this cognition is the A380, the largest civil airliner in history.
However, Boeing believes that the ultra-large four-engine passenger aircraft has reached its ceiling, and even Boeing itself has begun to give up upgrading the 747. In Boeing's market forecast analysis, they believe that as the main body of aircraft purchases, the most important criterion is the operating cost of airlines.
Airlines prefer aircraft that can reduce their operating costs as much as possible while ensuring sufficient capacity.
Judging from the current performance, the Boeing 787 is naturally better than the A380, and the Boeing 787 has even boosted the sales of some other Boeing models. However, the reason why the A380 is lagging behind is still Airbus' own mistakes, and strictly speaking it has not yet been tested by the market.
However, the major mistakes made in the launch of the first A380 have seriously affected market confidence. If the market performance is not good in the future, this largest civil airliner in history, which has invested more than 25 billion US dollars, may become a huge joke.
"If it is to replace the A330 and compete with the 787, then that makes sense. However, I don't think they can come up with any aircraft to match the advantages of the 787."
The 787 is known as the Dreamliner, and is Boeing's pinnacle product in the field of twin-engine wide-body aircraft. Lance Thamel does not think that Airbus can come up with a product that matches it. Not to mention, Boeing has always had an advantage in wide-body aircraft.
"They are now in trouble both internally and externally. If the A350 project is not successful, they may have to completely withdraw from the wide-body aircraft field in the future." Lance Tamir smiled and said, "Do you have any news about this aircraft?"
"As for the news..." Freese Hayes whispered, "The only thing we know now is that this aircraft may use composite materials on a large scale."
"Large-scale use of composite materials?" Hearing this, Lance Tamir was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: "With Airbus's technology, they can handle composite materials, huh? Why are there so many brushes on the 320? Don't they know the answer?"
The Boeing 737 and the Airbus 320 are two products with almost the same positioning, but the Airbus 320 has far more discharge brushes than the Boeing 737. The reason for this difference is that the Airbus 320 uses more composite materials, and the conductivity of composite materials is very poor, so more discharge brushes are needed to release the charge.
However, even if equipped with more discharge brushes, it still cannot solve the problem that the Airbus 320 is more vulnerable to lightning strikes.
If a Boeing 737 and an Airbus 320 are flying next to each other, when a bolt of lightning strikes, it will definitely hit the Airbus 320.
This "lightning rod" physique is also a major aspect of the Airbus 320 that is criticized by the industry.
The Airbus 320, which only uses some composite materials, has already been in such a state. If, as Friis Hayes said, the A350 uses a larger proportion of composite materials, then once a thunderstorm arrives, the A350 will definitely be the most beautiful thing in the sky. Almost all the lightning in an area will hit it alone, sacrificing itself to illuminate others.
Of course, this is just a joke. If a plane is hit by a lot of lightning, it will definitely cause great damage to the fuselage, especially the electronic system. No airline is willing to purchase an aircraft that is often struck by lightning.
Adding more discharge brushes can indeed alleviate some of the problems, but this is only a temporary solution. The proportion of composite materials in the Airbus 320 is not too high, so this can still be done. If the proportion of composite materials in the Airbus 350 increases significantly, it is hard to say whether the discharge brushes will still work.
To put it in an extreme way, even if the discharge brushes work well, it is foreseeable that the number of discharge brushes required will be extremely staggering. If the aircraft is covered with discharge brushes, to be honest, from a purely aesthetic point of view, it is a disastrous design.
However, the Boeing 787 also uses a large amount of composite materials and faces the same problem of poor conductivity of the fuselage.
However, Boeing, which has more technical reserves, has solved the conductivity problem caused by excessive composite materials very well.
In fact, although composite materials have many advantages, they also have many problems. In addition to the conductivity problem, damage detection methods are also a headache.
Nowadays, most fuselages are made of metal materials, such as aluminum alloy.
Metal materials are a bit heavy, but they have one characteristic, which is that they will deform if they are hit.
For example, if a metal fuselage is hit by a bird, a dent will be formed on the fuselage. However, if a composite fuselage is hit by a bird, the dent may rebound automatically, and visual inspection will not reveal any signs of damage to the fuselage.
In daily life, such as inspection at a station, most inspections are done by visual inspection. If the problem of composite material damage detection cannot be solved, it will actually be a huge safety hazard.
For aircraft manufacturers, composite materials are of course good, as they can greatly reduce the weight of aircraft. However, for aircraft maintenance personnel, it is an extremely troublesome issue, both in terms of inspection and maintenance.
Aircraft are not used only once, and airlines also have to consider maintenance costs. If Airbus cannot solve the many problems derived from composite materials, it will be greatly discounted in the minds of airlines.
Therefore, based on the information currently available, Lance Tamir is not optimistic about the project of this model.
"Perhaps this is the last straw that breaks the camel's back for Airbus' wide-body aircraft project," said Lance Tamir with a smile.
The A380 project did not get off to a good start, which has cast a shadow on the project. If the A350 project also fails, Airbus will have suffered two major setbacks in the wide-body aircraft industry, and will basically bid farewell to the wide-body aircraft industry.
In the future, Boeing will still be the only dominant player in the wide-body aircraft field.
"However, there is one thing that I care about. With Airbus' current financial situation, can it still squeeze out money to develop new models? If they really have so much money, shouldn't they save their own company's stock price first?" Lance Tamir asked puzzledly.
"It seems that Airbus has found new investment in the R&D project of the new aircraft, and Airbus does not need to invest money. However, in return, Airbus should have promised certain conditions ."
Lance Tamir laughed and said, "This is the best. Airbus is now a gambler who is losing his temper. Let them keep adding weight until they lose everything. By the way, what about the lawsuit against the A380 delay?"
"Those airlines hope to hire Disney's legal team through us, and in order to deal with possible retaliation from Airbus, they expect us to have a higher priority in future aircraft deliveries."
"Disney's legal team?" Lance Tamir smiled knowingly.
Disney's legal team is known as the strongest legal team on the planet, and they can turn black into white. Not to mention that in the A380 incident, Airbus was originally fully responsible. Wouldn't this make Airbus the target of public outrage?
In addition, Boeing had agreed to give Boeing priority in the delivery queue for future aircraft. Otherwise, if Airbus was sued and Airbus got angry, it would be difficult for the company to sell aircraft in the future. Wouldn't that be embarrassing?
Therefore, Boeing must make some concessions on this issue.
The order of aircraft delivery is not without cost, but involves real interests. Some airlines pay for seats just to occupy a better position in the order. Promising those airlines a more favorable order in future aircraft delivery is a real concession of interests.
However, Boeing would certainly be willing to take advantage of Airbus' current low point.
Boeing has dealt with Disney's chief lawyer before, so it would not be difficult for it to act as an intermediary.
"Speaking of Airbus, Xu Cang's bearish view on Airbus has finally come true." Lance Tamir said in amazement, "Some time ago, this guy borrowed a lot of Airbus shares from a brokerage firm. Now that Airbus's stock price has plummeted, he must have made a lot of money."
When this matter was mentioned, Frith Hayes showed some interest on his face: "Lance, now Airbus's stock..."
Unlike many people who called Lance Tamir by his last name, Ferris Hayes changed his name to the president of Boeing, which shows that the two have a good relationship in private.
Apparently, Lance Tamir understood what Ferris Hayes meant.
With the success of the Airbus 320 series and the hype of the A380 some time ago, Airbus's stock price was much higher than Boeing's, and it was actually a bit inflated. Although it has fallen a lot now, it is still higher than Boeing, which means that in Freese Hayes's opinion, there is still a lot of room for decline.
Since Xu Cang can make a fortune from the decline in Airbus’s stock price, why can’t Boeing?
Moreover, the most direct thing is that the new twin-engine wide-body aircraft project A350 released by Airbus looks like a hastily launched product. Now Airbus is in a hurry because of the setbacks of A380, and the Boeing 787 is chasing it. In order to suppress the impact of Boeing 787, it hastily launched the competing product A350.
However, such an approach is actually quite inappropriate.
Any action taken without rational reasoning will most likely lead to failure.
What is clear is that Airbus cannot afford another failure.
"I know." Lance Tamir sneered, "It seems that they are really being pushed into a corner by 787, and they are making some stupid moves."
Although Boeing's president is now sarcastic about Airbus's launch of the A350 project, when Airbus launched the A320Neo, Boeing was still in a hurry to launch the 737Max. In order to compete with the A320Neo, the 737Max was also hastily launched, leaving behind a lot of problems.
So, history is a cycle. There are never any lessons, only human nature.
However, regardless of the big setback Boeing suffered later on the 737Max, at least from the current perspective, Boeing seems to be sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai, looking down on the chaotic Airbus from a high position, and it is possible that it can even reap a wave of benefits.
In fact, it is not just Friis Hayes. There are already many voices within Boeing that want to harvest Airbus.
After the acquisition of McDonnell Douglas, the guys at McDonnell Douglas who didn't do business and only focused on stocks began to gradually influence Boeing's decision-making level. Airbus is in such a bad state now that it would feel sorry for itself if it didn't reap some benefits.
"Freese, are there a lot of people around who want to acquire Airbus?" Lance Tamir asked. "I remember you weren't like this before. You shouldn't ask this question."
Freese Hayes was an engineer by training and had directly participated in the design of the 737 series aircraft. He should be a person who pursues industrial economy. However, even such a person began to pay attention to capital manipulation and even took the initiative to mention it in front of him.
Frith Hayes looked embarrassed and cleared his throat. "As far as we know, Airbus has not made any news about any new technological breakthroughs recently. It is foreseeable that the so-called A350 is just a product that piles up old technologies, and the ending is doomed. As long as the A350 shows signs of failure, Airbus will suffer a heavy blow in the wide-body aircraft market, and its stock price will plummet again. In the past decade, due to the success of the 320 series, the capital market has been too optimistic about Airbus's valuation. It is possible that Airbus' stock price will fall by another 60%. This stock price difference gives us a lot of room for maneuver."
"So, you still think finance is better than industry?" Lance Tamir suddenly sighed and looked at Ferris Hayes.
Ferris Hayes remained silent, apparently refusing to answer the question.
However, this attitude is very telling.
That's right, how much money can you make from industry? A big move by those financial institutions on Wall Street is enough for Boeing to make hundreds or thousands of planes, and capital is profit-seeking by nature. Even though Boeing started out as an industry, how could it not be tempted by seeing those capital institutions swallowing up money so crazily?
Didn't the industrial giant McDonnell Douglas fail to resist the temptation and start focusing capital operations, causing its aircraft industry to become increasingly weak?
After acquiring McDonnell Douglas, Boeing is undoubtedly following in the footsteps of McDonnell Douglas.
Even Ferris Hayes, who was an engineer and had the spirit of old Boeing, began to have such emotions, which was actually a very bad sign.
"Lance, according to calculations, the profits we can reap from capital operations on Airbus are greater than those from selling 130 Boeing 737s. We don't have to work hard on manufacturing, auditing, or paying attention to after-sales service. We can get such huge profits in an instant with just a click of our fingers. Why not do this?"
Ferris Hayes's rhetorical question left Lance Tamir speechless.
Yeah, why not do that?
It's so easy and the profits are so huge, why not do it?
"But if Boeing loses its aviation manufacturing industry, will it still be Boeing?" Lance Tamir said in a daze.
"Lance, there are only Airbus and Boeing in the world now. We have already divided up the pie of the mainline passenger aircraft market, and no other players will enter. What we need to do is not to strive for excellence, but to prevent new entrants." Frith Hayes looked at Lance Tamir and said, "The board of directors wants more profits, and the aircraft business does not seem to meet that demand. In this era, finance is the fastest way to make money."
Lance Tamir didn't know what to say for a moment, and finally could only sigh, but he didn't know what he was sighing about.
Friis Hayes did not say anything more about the capital harvesting of Airbus, and Lance Tamir did not object, which actually meant that he acquiesced. Continuing this topic would undoubtedly hurt Lance Tamir's heart.
Lance Tamir is a thorough conservative at all times. When Boeing acquired McDonnell Douglas, Lance Tamir had clearly expressed his opposition. He believed at that time that McDonnell Douglas was rotten to the core, and acquiring McDonnell Douglas would only infect Boeing and cause it to rot together.
Many Boeing executives who have accepted McDonnell Douglas's philosophy may not think so, but from the current perspective, Lance Tamir's prediction is coming true step by step.
If we have different ideas, then no matter how much we say, it would be too much.
After the room was immersed in an eerie silence for a long time, Freese Hayes changed the subject: "Our parts partners have begun to complain more about the 757. What is the attitude of the headquarters towards the 757? As far as I know, there have been no new orders for a long time, right?"
"Do they want to completely shut down the 757 parts processing production line?" asked Lance Tamir.
"Yes, there are no more orders for the 757, but they still need to maintain the related production lines. Due to the cooperation agreement with us, they cannot shut down the related production lines. Only when we announce the suspension of production can they dismantle them." Freese Hayes asked, "Of course we can constrain them with the agreement, but I think in this matter, maybe we should listen to their opinions. The 757 has no future, so why not go with the flow and do those parts suppliers a favor. Didn't the board of directors already coordinate the closure of the final assembly line?"
"The suspension of 757 production has indeed entered a substantial advancement stage, but the production lines for related parts cannot be dismantled yet. We must wait for the board of directors to make it clear."
Suddenly, Ferris Hayes raised a question: "What if someone wants to buy the 757 production line?"
"What can we do if we don't sell it?" Lance Tamir thought for a moment. "Even if the 757 failed in the market, it still has a lot of good engineering technology. We can sell it. We are not that short of money."
Freese Hayes just asked casually: "I understand. As for the parts suppliers, I will explain it to them."
"That..." Lance Tamir added, "Although we can't stop production of the 757 as they wish now, there's no need to make things too awkward. You can tell them privately that it won't be long before the 757 is discontinued, so just let them wait a while."
Boeing is definitely in the driver's seat on both sides. However, many parts suppliers do not rely on Boeing alone for their survival, so there is no need to make the relationship between the two sides too bad.
"By the way, regarding the investigation into the Bombardier dumping case, we, as the applicant, need to attend a hearing tomorrow morning."
"Hearing?" Lance Tamir was stunned: "Where?"
Ferris Hayes said: "World Trade Center!"
…
Ding Dong!
With a slight vibration, Xu Cang's phone on the table suddenly lit up, and a message popped up on the screen. Xu Cang, who was listening to the public representatives scolding the Haneda Airport representative, glanced at the screen of his phone and saw a text message about the change of the model of flight 3102 tonight, from 737 to 320.
Xu Cang did not click on the message and could only see these contents.
However, Xu Cang was too lazy to click it. Passengers must be notified when the aircraft model is changed. This is the airline's job.
Whether it's a 737 or a 320, as long as it's an airplane, Xu Cang has no requirements for the model.
Compared to the aircraft model being changed, the scene where the representative of Haneda Airport was scolded like a grandson with his head down was quite exciting.
At the beginning of the hearing, the criticism was first directed at representatives of Haneda Airport.
Of course, as the party most responsible for ANA Flight 45, Haneda Airport naturally had to bear the most blame. Not only the public representatives, but also the chief secretary of the Ministry of Transportation criticized the Haneda Airport representatives, but JCAB Director Nagashima Kenshin didn't say much.
At first, the representative of Haneda Airport tried to refute a few words, but the result was even more intense questioning.
The representative of Haneda Airport, who understood everything, finally gave up resistance and just lay down to be ridiculed.
All I can say is that the top leader of Haneda Airport had foreseen this situation and directly sent his second-in-command over. He himself acted like a coward, and I don't know how comfortable he felt.
After criticizing Haneda Airport, the public representative suddenly changed the topic and pointed to the chief engineer of ANA who came to listen: "In this incident, Haneda Airport's responsibility is beyond doubt, but did your company have any problems in handling the hijacking?"
The chief engineer of ANA was a bystander, sitting in a seat slightly outside. He was listening with great interest to the criticism of Haneda Airport. He did not expect that the criticism would suddenly turn to him, and he was caught off guard.
"I...we..." After stuttering several times, the chief engineer of ANA finally straightened his tongue: "After investigation, we believe that the crew did not make any major mistakes in handling the incident."
"Oh? Really?" The representative showed a hint of joking on his face: "We may not understand the professional things, but we found some radical remarks among the people involved in the hijacking..."
As soon as these words were spoken, Yukio Nakamura, who was sitting in the audience, immediately had his eyelids twitched. He was the JCAB investigator in charge of investigating ANA Flight 45 at the time. When the representative of the people mentioned this, he immediately reacted.
As he spoke, the people's representative signaled the secretary at the opposite seat to play an audio clip.
With the surround speakers in the conference hall, hundreds of people in the hall can hear this conversation...
"Captain, did I open the door?"
"Open it!"
"Don't open it!"
"What did you say?"
"I said no!"
"But the captain said to open the door."
"I am Xu Cang, a first-level flight specialist of the International Civil Aviation Organization, with the number 41357. I am now in charge of this plane. Listen to my command and do not open the door!"
"Mr. Xu, if we don't open the door now, the flight attendant's life will be in danger. Not only her, but other passengers will also be at risk. Are we just going to watch the people in the cabin behind us die?"
"Even if everyone on the plane is dead, you are not allowed to open the door!"
In fact, many people have already heard this recording. It was in this recording that Xu Cang's almost cold-blooded tone made many people think that he was a demon who regarded human life as worthless. That tone, which was so bland and even indifferent, was too heartbreaking.
This recording lasted for a very short time. As soon as it ended, almost all eyes in the audience were focused on Xu Cang at the table.
Xu Cang, the focus of the whole audience, remained calm, as if nothing happened.
The public representative did not immediately turn the topic to Xu Cang, but continued to question the ANA chief engineer: "Excuse me, what is your company's principle for handling hijackings?"
The chief engineer of ANA shuddered all over. He did not have the same psychological quality as Xu Cang.
The moment the representative of the people raised the question, the eyes of the majority of the audience were focused on him again, causing the ANA chief engineer to feel very stressed, and his mood, which had just relaxed, became panic again.
"We at ANA...will mainly deal with hijackings through...peaceful negotiations."
"So what are the solutions of other countries, such as the representative FAA?" the public representative continued to ask.
The chief engineer of ANA glanced in a certain direction of the observation seats, waited for a moment, and then said: "We are referring to the FAA's anti-hijacking procedures. We will try our best to calm the hijackers and meet their demands, including..."
"Okay! Even if this is a universal anti-hijacking procedure, then..." The public representative interrupted the ANA chief engineer and turned his gaze to Xu Cang: "Then how did you do it? Xu Cang, the first-level flight specialist of the International Civil Aviation Organization, number 41357! Did you come up with this method of confronting the hijackers even if it meant that all the people on the plane would be buried with them, or did... CAAC teach you, huh?"
