Boeing 737: A Legacy Model in Commercial Airlines - Research Paper

Introduction

Within Boeing Commercial Airlines, the Boeing 737 model is considered as the Legacy Model. The first design of the 737 models was produced in 1964 and had a narrow body, which among other features such as reliability and safety, made it a hit back in the days. The model has, through time, become a constraint to engineers who are continually working on renovating the model to be more fuel-efficient. Johnston and Harris (2019) reported that from the 15,156 orders placed for the 737 models, the company had delivered 10,571, making it one of the top-selling aircraft models. The model was, in fact, the top-selling commercial jetliner before the introduction of the Airbus A320 model, which was more competitive.

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Background of the Problem

Since 2006, the company was toying with the idea of remodeling the 737 model's engine even though there were plans to build a smaller and much efficient commercial airliner from scratch. The plans were at an advanced stage as the designs were ready in 2010 when the competing Airbus A320 was first flown. Thus, the move provoked the top airliners management to rethink the plans, and the fourth generation in the 737 families was announced (Nowacki & Olejniczak, 2018). The Boeing 737 MAX succeeded the 737 Next Generation (NG) and was designed with modifications on the airframe, aerodynamics, and more competent CFM International LEAP-1B engines. However, it was in 2016 that the 737 MAX model made its first flight.

Only 387 out of the 4,934 placed orders were delivered by June 2019, and two fatal accidents involving the 737 MAX 8 jetliner had occurred. The accidents led to global authorities in the aviation industry to ground the MAX series (Nowacki & Olejniczak, 2018). After the accidents, many issues arose regarding the cause of the disastrous tragedies that led to 346 lives being lost. One of the concerns that stood out was the absence of training to acquaint pilots with the new design. Consequently, Boeing cut the production of the model in January 2020, while the delivery of the 737 MAX was discontinued temporarily. Therefore, this prompted the question of whether the decision to upgrade the legacy model was sound.

Operation Management Decision

Operations management revolves around so many issues essential areas comprise goods and services offered by a company as well as quality management. Besides, the design of processes and the capacity are inclusive in operation management decisions. Other concerns consist of strategic location, strategic plan of the layout, designing of jobs and human resources, management of the inventory, as well as the supply chain. Therefore, for the management of Boeing Commercial Airlines to decide re-designing the 737's engine without any other alterations, these issues must be addressed (Nowacki & Olejniczak, 2018). Thus, it is questionable how the company's leadership decided in disregard to critical components like technical implications of fitting the 737 with more significant engines (Fischer, 2019). The management was evidently in a rush to meet faster safety certification of the re-designed engines and thereby compromised integrity and safety matters.

Safety certification for aircraft involves a rigorous process that is also time-consuming as the Federal Aviation Administration authorities have to be assured beyond any reasonable doubt of the safety of the plane under inspection. However, certification for the improvement of previous versions of the aircraft is less rigorous. Notably, Boeing is renowned for upholding integrity and safety principles throughout the manufacturing process. However, evidence collected from the two crash sites of flight 302 operated by the Ethiopian Airlines and Flight 610 run by Lion Air from Indonesia, indicate similar malfunctioning of the aircraft that does not involve the pilots' errors (Nowacki & Olejniczak, 2018). To be precise, the addition of the automated safety feature in the form of the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) was the cause of the crashes. The MCAS is software that inhibits the aircraft from losing lift or entering into a stall.

Companies have to contend with the implementation of consistency of resources, quality, and costs concerning making decisions concerning operations management. For Boeing, flexibility in the quality was becoming a challenge increasingly. This was especially true after the launch of the rival Airbus A320neo, which proved to be more popular than the 737 NG (Nowacki & Olejniczak, 2018). This forced the management of the company to rush and produce a model that could compete with the airbus, especially in the efficiency of fuel consumption. Hence, the fourth generation airliner was pushed to make entry to the market with apparent oversight inconsistency of the quality which the company emphasized through integrity and safety principles.

The quality issues arose after investigations conducted on the two crashed planes revealed that the jetliners might have failed due to software malfunctions. Boeing was in a rush to fulfill the requirements set by American Airlines, having ordered 100 narrow-body aircraft from the re-designed engine model (Nowacki & Olejniczak, 2018). Following the needs of American Airlines that wanted fuel-efficient jetliners that could match the already ordered A320neo, Boeing struggled to meet the deadlines with the 737 MAX. The company had conducted significant market research on its customer's needs, as demonstrated by the popularity of the MAX series on the market.

Design of Goods and Services

Technically, the engine size was increased to enhance efficient fuel consumption by the MAX series. But the positioning of both engines below the wings destabilized the plane under particular circumstances. Johnston and Harris (2019) hold the opinion that due to the massive engine size, they were to be set a little forward of the previous location and upper on the wings. The authors further assert that the design for the engine housing prevents the generation of lift in normal flight situations. However, when the plane is taking off or taking a hard turn, the MAX series' engine housings create more lift compared to all preceding 737's. Dependent on the airplane's angle, the plane's inertia can lead to over-swinging into a stall.

To avoid stalling the planes, the company designed software that no other commercial aircraft uses. The MCAS, which was integrated as a component of the flight management computer software, is also critical in losing an airplane's lift. In the tragic event of the two MAX 8 aircraft,' the MCAS is suspected of having played a crucial part as the remains showed that they were engaged when the planes were not stalling (Desai, Vengadasalam, Hollingsworth, & Chinchapatnam, 2017). From the operation management's point of view, it was necessary to include the training of pilots on the functioning of the MCAS before launching of the planes that had software used in military craft only installed in commercial airplanes.

There were several variations of the re-designed engine model, including the 737 MAX 7, 737 MAX 8, 737 MAX 9, and the 737 MAX 10. The 737 MAX 8 model had helped the company in maintaining a remarkable market segment compared to its variants since it was more popular. This design's model had an extended fuselage longer in comparison to its variant, the MAX 7. Besides, the model's design consisted of an increased maximum takeoff weight as well as a decreased empty weight compared to its archrival the A320neo (Desai et al., 2017). Thus, Boeing's aircraft was much faster than airbus, as it is believed that long-haul planes have a higher cruise speed in comparison to short-haul planes.

Upon completion of its first test flight, the aircraft was established to consume 2,020kg/h of fuel while cruising at approximately 830km/h with a weight of nearly 63,000kg. The MAX 200 was introduced in 2014 as a high-density variant of the MAX 8 and the name synonymous with the craft's capability to seat 200 passengers in a configuration of high-density. According to Boeing Commercial Airlines, the MAX 200 is incomparable to earlier models of the 737's as it is 20 percent more cost-efficient per seat (Desai et al., 2017). This feature made the model the most competent narrow-body aircraft in the air industry.

Quality Management

Boeing Commercial Airlines has achieved remarkable recognition from the design of the 737 series, which was advanced ever since its initiation. However, technological changes have forced the engineers always to upgrade previous versions as they gradually lost their cost-effectiveness during operations. From the initial 737-100 model that was launched in 1965, the company has focused throughout its existence to maintain the quality of the airplanes (Desai et al., 2017). To demonstrate the quality effectiveness of the company, the 737-200 was equally successful, like its predecessor and likewise the 737 NG. Undoubtedly, the installation of the MCAS and the subsequent failure to provide necessary manuals or training to the pilots is an aspect of reduced adherence to quality management.

Design of the Capacity and Process Plans

Determination of the production capacity is extremely significant for an organization as it enables maximum utilization of resources for increased profitability. Thus, crafting a design capacity is crucial in the identification of the amount of work that can be completed within a given time. Concerning Boeing Commercial Airlines, the company's production capacity was beyond the company's capability. For instance, the company has delivered less than four hundred planes, even though it has received more than 4,000 confirmed orders for the 737 Max (Johnston & Harris, 2019). After the two plane crashes, the production of the MAX series was reduced, which might affect the delivery of the outstanding warrants.

During the design process, the product is segmented further to assist in the final process of manufacturing. Despite the company's resolve to re-design the engines alone, the design process calls for the introduction of additional features, which might enhance the cost efficiency per seat as well as coziness of the travelers to cultivate on the customer journey experience (Johnston & Harris, 2019). Ideally, the process design is critical in ensuring that a correlation between the output required and the intermediate processes involved. The MAX series met the demands of its customers as indicated by the orders placed, which surpass those of the A320neo even though the latter was dominating the market before the former was officially launched.

Strategic Location

The location strategy is considered as the plot for finding the optimal position for an organization through the identification of objectives and requirements and matching them with areas that provide compatibility with the goals and needs. The selection of the correct position of a business is equally critical, as the poor location could be detrimental to the success of an organization (Tan, 2017). For Boeing, the company was placed as the global leader in the production of commercial aircraft and had established itself as a brand to that effect. No wonder, after the launch of the MAX series, sales picked up as different airlines were placing their orders.

The decision to re-design the engines of the aircraft to enhance its fuel consumption capacity proved to be a disaster for the company, especially after the production of the series was halted following the grounding of the 737 MAX globally. The management for a long time was toying with the idea of constructing a new smaller airplane from scratch but took a long time to decide to craft designs for their views (Tan, 2017). Th...