Boeing is slowly climbing its hill towards recovery. The last few years saw the firm tumble on the back of a host of crises of its own making. It’s coming back together, but the question remains: can it remain relevant without a big capital pool to spend on developing the next generation of aircraft, in the face of new competition?
Boeing has just raised $21 bln of new capital – to keep the doors open. That is not a great look. It’s a saga of management and corporate failure unmatched in recent history. The consequences for global aviation are immense. I’m waiting to pick over the bones…
Boeing desperately needs to get it right. Over the next 20 years, global demand will be around 35,000 new aircraft. Supply is currently a duopoly of Boeing and Airbus. To avoid it becoming an Airbus monopoly (bad for everyone), Boeing’s new management need to completely reset the firm and focus back on fundamentals – which are people rather than numbers driven.
Boeing is my pick as the worst company on the planet. Its’ stock is down 30% this year. It has failed multiple corporate governance challenges, but is also a victim of QE over-easy monetary policy: ultra-low interest rates enabled its cost-accountant management to wreck the company. Can it recover?
Orders are piling up at the Paris Airshow, but fractured supply chains, labour shortages and engine problems means new aircraft deliveries are delayed for years. That’s opportunity, but also hints at new dynamics in terms of how the aviation sector develops – the Age of Cheap Flight may be over.
The current crisis (?) is another step in banking’s progress towards an evolutionary dead end. The future doesn’t need banks. It will need smart risk takers, and new ways to originate and distribute risk.. an opportunity for banks clever enough to evolve!








