Essential Questions
What unusual decisions did Boeing make in the design of the 737 MAX 8?
What drove Boeing to make the decisions that it did?
A Tale of Two Airplane Manufacturers
Airline costs depend on a multitude of factors, many of which cannot be changed like maintenance or labor costs. Fuel costs can amount to 10-12% of an airline's budget, so fuel economy plays an important factor into which planes an airline purchases. In particular, the Boeing 737 series and Airbus A320 series occupied the same market share. So when Airbus released the A320 Neo, which was 20% more fuel efficient in comparison to its predecessor, Boeing had to choose how to respond.
Boeing 7372
Airbus A3203
The Story of the Boeing 737 Max 8
In 2010, Boeing planned to design a completely new plane. They would lose some sales to Airbus but they would be better in the long term. However, as airlines threatened to switch to the Airbus 320 Neo, Boeing announced in 2011 they would redesign the Boeing 737.
The Slippery Slope that Led to MCAS:
To improve fuel efficiency and match Airbus, Boeing needed to fit larger engines onto the existing 737 frame, which didn't have enough space under the wing.
Boeing engineers shifted the engine forward
The larger engines and different placement resulted in the 737 MAX having different handling patterns in comparison with the 737
Boeing introduced MCAS to correct this issue
Boeing's Training Regiment
Boeing marketed the 737 MAX 8 as similar to prior 737 models so less training was required for pilots to operate a MAX 8. Airbus had advertised the same thing with the Airbus 320neo and previous models. Less training means less costs for airlines.
Training was 2.5 hours of computer-based training. The MCAS system was not mentioned but pilots were trained to handle a similar situation of the plane pitching down sharply.
