2 days ago
- General
- Wall Street Journal
Boeing's Troubles Are America's Troubles
I was talking to Joe Sutter, legendary Boeing 747 designer, not long after a Northwest DC-9 crashed on takeoff in Detroit in 1987, killing everyone aboard except a 4-year-old girl.
We were batting around the results of airline deregulation, then less than a decade old. Like many veteran hands, he was disconcerted by the chaotic bankruptcies, strange new startups, and bargain-hunting masses crowding the airways. 'Pigged out' was his description of the Northwest jet—every seat filled, packed to the gunwales with passenger luggage—as it failed to stay airborne.
