Inside the Boeing Factory

Boeing and Airbus aircrafts have ruled the skies and air travel is almost confined to using one of their planes.  They are leaders and rivals in aviation industry.  Who is the market leader?  The answer is difficult to find due to multiple factors that are used to claim market leadership.  Airbus claimed 53% market share in 2013. Boeing delivered 648 airplanes as against 626 by Airbus that year.  Boeing's earnings were 51 billion US Dollars as against 38 billion US Dollars of Airbus.  Due to the peculiar nature of the industry, it is difficult to pin point as to who is the leader. There are many factors for consideration; order book, revenues, aircrafts delivered etc.  To a dispassionate observer it appears that both are equal market players and fierce competitors.  Other aircraft producers are only fringe players. However, one distinct fact emerges from the comparison; Boeing is producing higher number of bigger planes whereas Airbus is producing more number of smaller planes.  Aviation industry needs both types, depending on the traffic in different routes and handling capacities of large, medium and small airports.

Boeing is the world's largest aerospace company since it also manufactures and sells satellite weapons, electronic and defense systems, launch systems and advanced technology solutions related to Aerospace industry.  The aggregate earnings of all these products accounts for the higher revenues. The company is one of the largest employers in the world; over 170,000 people work for the company.  55,000 employees work at a single location, Everett near Seattle in Washington State, USA. Incidentally, the very first Boeing-747 manufactured was named as Everett.  A visit to the Boeing factory in Everett is a wonderful experience to anyone interested in planes. Children simply love it.  And so do adults with a child's enthusiasm.

Boeing company provides an opportunity to visit its Everett facility and the tour is called "Future of Flight Aviation Center & Boeing Tour". Booking can be made on-line or over phone and there is a guided tour every hour, each tour lasting about 90 minutes.  Additional tours are provided to accommodate group visitors and peak time requirements.  Admission charges are about 20 US dollars with discount for advance booking and youth below 15 years. The tour starts with a ten minute introductory film about the company in the auditorium adjacent to the booking office.  Photography inside the factory is strictly prohibited.  Arrangements are available for wheel-chair visitors as well.

The Everett factory situated 25 miles north of Seattle city is spread over 98.3 acres which is 12 acres bigger than Disneyland in California.  Production area covers 472 million cubic feet.  Its 55,000 employees work in three shifts on 365 days a year.  The length of one production floor, through which the visitors are taken through, is nearly one kilometer and monthly production level is 10 planes in one floor unit.  The visitors are shown assembly of three models of aircraft from an elevated platform - Jumbo 747-8, 777 and 787 Dreamliner.  A Boeing 747-8 has 6 million parts in it and yet the final assembly in this product line is done in 3 days!  All activities are standardized and the name of the airline buying each of the planes is already painted on them during the assembly itself.  Each production floor has three aircrafts being assembled at any given time.  The planes being assembled are on slow moving pedestals and at the end of the third day the aircraft moves out and flies to the buyer's place. Each of these aircraft costs approximately 260 million USD to 350 million USD, depending on the model.

Boeing 747-8 is a wide bodied, twin aisled fourth generation jumbo jet and is a competitor to Airbus's A380.  The four engined aircraft can carry up to 460 passengers depending on seat configuration.  The aircraft with a take-off weight of 440,000 kilograms is used by airlines on long-haul busy routes like trans-atlantic and trans-pacific flights.  It can fly at a speed of 500 miles or 800 kilometers an hour and is more fuel efficient and less noisy than its earlier versions.  One such aircraft flies between Bangalore and Frankfurt.

Boeing 777 is a wide body twin engine jet that can fly non-stop up to 17,000 kilometers.  It can carry 300 to 440 passengers at a speed of 600 miles per hour (about 950 kilometers per hour).  It is Boeing's first fully computer designed aircraft.  It is also its first fly-by-wire aircraft with computer-mediated controls.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner is the latest aircraft from the Boeing stables.  Its body is made of hardened plastic and fibre glass as against the traditional Aluminum bodies for other aircrafts.  The material made of plastic and fibre glass is stronger than steel but lighter than Aluminum.  Its shining surface gives a pleasant look and the travel in them is more comfortable.  It is suitable for landing and take-off from mid-sized airports as well.  The twin-engine long haul aircraft can carry 200 to 350 passengers.  Air India was one of the earliest users of the aircraft but the experience was not that pleasant due to technical and other reasons.  Air India is now selling these aircrafts to repay long term loans.

The 90 minute tour through the Boeing factory last month was a thrilling experience and gave a true insight into aircrafts and aviation industry.  At the end of the tour, the guide asked us in the group of about 50, as to who has traveled in each of these aircrafts.  I was the only one who had traveled in all the three of them. Others too might have done so.  Only they might have not noticed them!   

She just loves INDIA!

When Lufthansa started their flights from Bangalore to Frankfurt some eight years ago, it was with three flights a week.  Due to increase in traffic from Bangalore, the airline increased the number of flights to five every week.  I remember vividly that in 2005 we were to fly from Chennai to Frankfurt as there was no flight from Bangalore on the day we were to travel.  The number of flights were increased after our booking but before the actual day of travel on 6th June 2005.  We were, therefore, allowed to fly from Bangalore to Frankfurt directly and avoid the trip via Chennai.  Within a few months, there were daily flights from Bangalore to Frankfurt.  All these flights were with medium sized aircraft and the flights were always full.  In view of the increase in the demand for more seats from Bangalore, the airline now operates a Boeing-747 aircraft, popularly known as "Jumbo Jet".  Despite this the flights are always fully booked and the airline may even consider a second flight from Bangalore!  This is despite the downturn in the world economy and bloodbath on US and Europe stock markets.

The Boeing-747 is no doubt the biggest passenger aircraft in operation now (except a few Airbus A-380 introduced recently) but the space available for the passengers is lesser than in other aircraft.  Remember the "Cattle Class" comment by Shri Shashi Tharoor and the resultant furore.  With the configuration of 3-4-3 seats to accommodate maximum passengers, the person in the middle seat is actually sandwiched between his two co-passengers.  His plight is all the more difficult if the persons on either side are huge enough to not only fill their own seats but also spill over the neighbors seat and the 9-hour long flight could be a real test of endurance.  On the flight from Frankfurt to Bangalore last Sunday I was in such a situation and I was praying for a lean person on my right (aisle) side,  when I took my seat.  My prayers were partly answered as the person who came in search of that seat did not spill over to my seat though occupied her own seat quite fully.  We smiled at each other and kept a dignified silence for the first three hours.  She had a friend traveling with her and sitting on the seat next to her across the aisle.  When lunch was being served, her water cup slipped and a small quantity of water fell on her table.  I handed over paper napkins immediately and the spilled water broke the ice between us.  Thereafter it was a enjoyable exchange of thoughts and experiences for the next six hours.

She was a Danish lady who lives in a place some two hundred miles from Copenhagen and was coming to India to go to Puttaparthy.  She was working in the Denmark customs department and now retired from service.  Her two grown up sons are employed in Denmark.  I asked her whether she was visiting India for the first time or she had been there earlier.  She said she had visited India many times and after a count said that this was her 15th visit to India!  She was fascinated by the cultural diversity of our country and has been visiting various places in India almost every alternate year.  Her first visit was in 1980 to see Taj Mahal and she has visited various places around our country.  She had also traveled to many countries in Europe and America.  But her first preferred destination is India.  "I just love India!", she declared enthusiastically.

I was glad to sit next to someone who has come to our country from Europe for as many as 15 times.  She is not a professional or business traveler but one who comes here to enjoy the cultural diversity of our country and its spiritual lineage.  She did have her share of troubles like a pick pocket once and a missing bag on another trip.  She was not bitter about them and attributed these as hazards of international travel.  One of her visits was a week after "Sunami" hit our east coast and resulted in an enormous damage to property and loss of lives.  Her group was booked in a Hotel in Mahabalipuram and when they went to check-in, they found that the entire ground floor was filled with sand and they were allotted rooms on the first floor .  When her friends were reluctant to check-in, she told them that "Sunami" is not going to visit them again within a week and they should not worry about it!

She described her visit to Mysore at length and even recalled the paintings in the Mysore Palace in detail.  When I asked her about Belur-Halebid temples, she explained about the "Dhwaja Sthamba" (the tall stone pillar, in her words) and various other carvings.  " I  just love the Elephant carvings there", she said.  She also explained in detail her visits to the Hospitals and other institutions run by the Sathya Sai Trust.  "Baba is no more with us, but his memory is there", she said and appeared to have been perfectly in peace with the changes.  She also had fond memories of the "Art of Living" campus.  The discussion moved to the Danish Cows in the Hesaraghatta Indo-Danish Dairy Farm and one of her thrills in India was to see worshiping of Cows.  She was able to recall minute details of her trip to Haridwar and Rishikesh.

As the final descent to Bengaluru International Airport was announced, she enquired about the exchange rate between Danish Kroner, Euro, Dollar and Rupee.  She was happy she had not converted her money into Euro and escaped the loss.  Next moment her sense of humor was back.  "Look at me, I am talking as if I am carrying a fortune with me!", she burst out laughing.

Thank you Dear visitor from Denmark.  May your tribe increase!