Lean bloggers tend to be hard on the commercial airline industry. It’s not unjustified considering how they’ve treated their own employees and their customers in recent years, and the lack of profitability that goes with that poor treatment. I suspect…
TSA considers reservations for airport security – USATODAY.com I’m not normally a fan of the TSA, but this proposal actually seems somewhat reasonable and reminds me of the Lean concept of “heijunka,” or level loading of a process. A steady…
I’m going to try to tie this into Lean, or so I think. I had the most mind-numbing experience at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (my home airport, Terminal A, near gate A35, last Monday night (Labor Day). As I…
Flightblogger: Temporary Fasteners Causing Major Problems for 787 Program Ok, so Boeing isn’t using duct tape in their efforts to cobble together the first Dreamliner plane. But, this blog report I’ve linked to says they were using: “… over-the-counter parts…
How Boeing Got Going – TIME Evolving Excellence’s Kevin Meyer will comment on this after his vacation, I’m sure (read his other Boeing comments starting here). There’s a piece in Time Magazine and it makes a very misguided reference to…
Review by Andy Wagner: Name of the Book: Boeing Versus Airbus: The Inside Story of the Greatest International Competition in Business Author: John Newhouse Publication Date: 2007 Book Description: Boeing Versus Airbus is not exactly a lean book, but it…
The Middle Seat – WSJ.com: Here’s an example of the every day use of the word “lean” that, unfortunately, means just about the exact opposite of what we mean with “Lean Manufacturing” or the Toyota Production System: “Just like airport…
Small Jets, More Trips Worsen Airport Delays – AOL Money & Finance Here’s a free version of an article that originally appeared in the WSJ last week. Going back to the book Lean Thinking, Womack and Jones talked about their…
Case of the Vanishing Airport Lines – WSJ.com This article made me think of Lean in the sense that Alaska Air radically rethought the passenger check in process and achieved some dramatic results: In Anchorage, the airline expected a 20%…
Here are some updates on the “Bad Systems” I featured last week, Northwest Airlines and the NBA. I know I promised more positive posts, but let me follow up on these stories… First, the NBA. I don’t have a link…
Serious Security Questions at Sky Harbor Airport New interim security director named at Sky Harbor Here’s another story from last week about bad systems, and bad management to boot. This one hits close to home since I used to fly…
NWA blames pilot absences: Detroit Free Press Updated: NWA calls back all its pilots as cancellations mount In another example of media/management blaming, Northwest Airlines is blaming pilots for forcing the airline into canceling flights at the end of July.…