Having worked at Boeing, it's strange to imagine such an acquisition. Boeing is the polar opposite of a software startup, and ForeFlight's about-page shows them to be founded by software entrepreneurs. I will be impressed if they can make this work. What does Boeing hope to get from this that they couldn't get from them as a partner or supplier?
I wonder if Boeing’s institutional investors have had the foresight to get controlling stakes in business jet manufacturers to prevent them from going down the same path, just so that they can still get places by plane in reasonable safety.
Boeing is a lot more high tech than people give them credit for. In my opinion, Boeing could only serve to benefit ForeFlight as now the company has significant backing as well as deeper access into cutting edge flight systems tech.
Boeing is publicly traded and important to the US. Seems the FAA might have some incentive (not necessarily directly financial) to make sure Boeing remains competitive in the market vs. Airbus.
There's a fairly short list of companies I could see doing something like this, and Boeing is on that list. I could see Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Exxon Mobil, JPMorgan Chase, McKinsey, ...
Thank you for explaining why you downvoted. Allow me to reply with the following observation: Boeing depends on airlines. Or, at least, Boeing's commercial division depends on airlines. A future where Boeing's commercial arm is shuttered and its defense works folded into a single entity would be congruent with my original post; there would be a grand reduction in air travel.
Boeing's biggest commercial customer, as I understand it, is Southwest, who owns about 5% of all Boeings in the air [0][1]. Thus, sure, Boeing doesn't need any one particular airline, but they certainly do need somebody to buy their planes, and each individual airline which cannot stay aloft is a potential lost customer.
Because planes are so expensive to manufacture, Boeing and Airbus typically take orders for aircraft in advance, presumably along with payment, in exchange for a hefty discount of over half off the advertised price [2]. Additionally, they take too many orders, expecting that they are overbooked on plane orders and some will be canceled [2]. This sort of accounting works well in times of trouble, as long as the system returns quickly to normal following the initial shock. For example, after 9/11, air traffic resumed after a week [3] and there was only about a 30% reduction in air travel, which lasted for about a year [4]. However, if there is a months-long depression in air traffic, then the reduction will be more severe; it's been about 45% to 90% reduced around the Pacific Rim [1] and could get worse.
Eventually, too many orders get cancelled, and production has to scale back, and once production starts diminishing, it's hard to regain capacity. The original article quotes the CEO as saying that it could be 3 years until we get back to prior levels of air travel; that is a long time for airlines to hold out, and a long time for Boeing and Airbus to keep getting orders.
That and a bunch of jobs. The Seattle area isn’t as exposed to Boeing cut backs as it used to be, but I guess it would still be felt.
Of course, they would have to replace this with something, either previous specced 737s, a new spec 737, or a new plane. While they are developing that market share will fly to Europe and possibly China.
That would bankrupt Boeing. That's probably not a desirable outcome for such a company - and this would discourage any investment in aviation moving on.
Total nonsense. Do you not know what is happening in the airline industry right now?
Boeing is not facing a stagnant market, they have customers even now begging them to give them planes as soon as possible. What Boeing is trying to do is fill enormous demand, they actually could easily grow if they had the leadership capacity to do so.
A large investment in a potentially very large future customer.
Would Boeing invest money in an autonomous flight project by Southwest Airlines in hopes of locking in a Boeing 737 only fleet?
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