How many times have I denounced envy in these pages? Let me count the ways… what? Only twelve? I must be losing my stuff. Envy has become the force most likely to destroy Mankind. Have a fresh and juicy sample:
Over the weekend, NASA finally made the decision to return Boeing’s plagued Starliner without a crew on board.
That means stranded NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will now have to wait for a SpaceX Crew Dragon to return them from the International Space Station in February, stretching an eight-day journey into an eight-month one.
In other words, the aerospace giant’s first crewed test flight has been a disaster, with technical issues afflicting Starliner’s propulsion system proving insurmountable and putting the company in the position to be “rescued” by its biggest competitor in space tech.
Unsurprisingly, NASA’s decision to return the capsule with no crew on board has been a major blow to morale. As the New York Post reports, Boeing employees were left “humiliated” following the announcement.
Worse yet, it’s not just Starliner’s messy test flight — Boeing has been dealing with numerous crises, from passenger jets falling apart mid-flight to reports of major mismanagement.
“We have had so many embarrassments lately, we’re under a microscope,” one Boeing worker told the NY Post, speaking under condition of anonymity. “This just made it, like, 100 times worse.”
“We hate SpaceX,” he added. “We talk shit about them all the time, and now they’re bailing us out.”
Oh, you hate SpaceX, do you? You should be overpoweringly glad that SpaceX doesn’t hate you. If Elon Musk were similarly minded toward you, he’d leave your astronauts in space until you could retrieve them. How do you think that would look to the flying public, on top of all your other recent disasters?
Time was, Boeing was the “Cadillac of the skies.” Everyone in aerospace aspired to Boeing’s achievements and reputation. Everyone wanted to know how Boeing did it. But those days are gone… as is many travelers’ willingness to board a Boeing aircraft. I could enumerate the reasons, but it’s still early in the morning and I’m only on my second cup of coffee.
One thing is certain: envying and hating a superior performer won’t do anything to rescue Boeing from its woes. But sometimes, the inferior man has nothing with which to salve his wounds but envy and the hatred it engenders. Perhaps he should read some amusing books.
Perhaps Elon Musk should consider making commercial airliners, too.
