Slog

News & Arts

Line Out

Music & the City
at Night

« This Seems Like a Waste of Money an… | More Photos from Yesterday's Port A… »

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Economy Southwest Signs Record $19 Billion Order for Boeing 737s

Posted by Goldy on Tue, Dec 13, 2011 at 8:59 AM

Two weeks after the Machinists union struck a deal with Boeing to keep production of its new 737 MAX in Renton, the Chicago-based aerospace manufacturer announced the largest aircraft order ever:

Southwest Airlines Co. became the first carrier to order Boeing Co.'s 737 MAX, purchasing 150 of the more-efficient planes and 58 other 737s in the largest aircraft order ever.

MAX deliveries will start in 2017, and the deal includes options for 150 more, Southwest said today in a statement.

That's a lot of planes. And a lot of good-paying union jobs in the region for years to come.

It's important to remember that one of the keys to the Machinists contract was their willingness to drop the NLRB lawsuit that had found Boeing guilty of illegal retaliation in moving 787 production to South Carolina. The union-hating geniuses on our local daily's editorial board had vociferously argued for the Obama administration to kill the NLRB suit... a suit that ultimately provided the leverage needed to secure 737 production here in the region.

But I guess if anybody knows about destroying local jobs, it's the overseers of the ever-shrinking newsroom over at the Seattle Times.

Comments (6) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

Goldy is so jealous he doesn't work for a real newspaper with real benefits....

Posted by too bad Assholery doesn't pay too good these days... on December 13, 2011 at 9:07 AM

Oh, snap!

Posted by johnnycache on December 13, 2011 at 9:09 AM

Not just the Times. Look closer to your cubicle. My favorite Brendan moment ever was his railing against the evil Machinists for forcing poor Boeing to open the S. Carolina line. Look how that worked out in the end?

The Boeing machinists' strike last year totally fucked up the company's efforts to roll out a new jet, which may mean that Boeing leaves Washington for, say, South Carolina, which would mean that the strike—in the long run—totally fucked over tens of thousands of working-class families.

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archive…

Ah, the Stranger's labor and industrial coverage. So comprehensive. Ooh, pics of last night's Duwamish barricade! Squirrel!

Posted by gloomy gus on December 13, 2011 at 9:24 AM

@3, that's why I have never taken anything in The Stranger very seriously. Except for anal sex tips...that's the only thing they have authority in.

Posted by Cato the Younger Younger on December 13, 2011 at 9:48 AM

@1: We have real paper and real benefits. Whether you consider what we do as "news" or not, that's up to you.

Posted by Goldy on December 13, 2011 at 11:54 AM

Goldy again shits the bed on a routine issue: conflating the new contract with the NLRB case was, hands down, the dumbest thing the union could have done - a classic, stunning strategic blunder.

Is there anyone with political insight at The Strangler? Other than threesomes-in-a-hot-air-balloon coverage and the provincial art scene, The Times has nothing to worry about.

Posted by Che Guava on December 13, 2011 at 12:19 PM