Review - 'Flying Blind: The 737 MAX Tragedy and the Fall of Boeing' by Peter Robison

I don't think I'll ever step foot on a Boeing MAX again after reading this.

Additional thoughts -

1. The failure that caused the crashes is absolutely appalling. It was a series of bad engineering decisions made to shave a few dollars and some design and training time off of the MAX development. It absolutely boggles the mind that it was designed this way and no one foresaw it could lead to the failures that it did.

2. This is what happens when a company decides to focus solely on short-term gain (stock performance) instead of quality and innovation. Corporate culture comes from the top down. And it's just Boeing's luck that it had a string of executives who all slavishly subscribed to Jack Welch's philosophy. [start vent] Welch is pretty much the scourge of capitalism, single-handedly ushering in an era of business that exist solely for the purpose of boosting stock prices. Forget innovation, R&D, sustainability, the future of the company, being a positive force in the community, or any loyalty to its customers and its employees. None of that matters, according to Welch. And his influence was huge, as is evidenced by Boeing's executive team. [end vent]

3. So the FAA and Boeing were pretty much in bed together even though one was tasked with overseeing the safety and flight-readiness of the other? What a joke.

4. When hundreds of people die due to a company's willful concealment and negligence, how is it that no one ends up standing trial and going to jail for it? It seems like it would be a pretty good deterrent if we can throw CEOs in jail, especially when it's clear that they encouraged these decisions despite knowing the risks. Bet they would think twice before saving a few dollars at the expense of people's lives if their asses were on the line.

5. Only 3 stars because I had hoped for more about the plane crashes, but this book spends the majority of time on the history of Boeing. Recommend if you're wanting to learn more about Boeing's corporate history and how they run their business (terribly, as it were). 

Readaroo Rating: 3 stars