Last month, hundreds of very experienced Seattle-area Boeing engineers walked out the door. They chose to retire early with the realization they'd have a significant cut to their pension payouts if they delayed.
Though this quirk in traditional pension plans is not unique to Boeing, the outcome is a local brain drain that will accentuate a looming experience gap at the jetmaker.
Boeing has pushed out the launch of an all-new airplane toward the end of this decade. By then, there'll be a limited number of senior engineers left who worked on development of the last all-new plane — the 787, delivered in 2011 — and have detailed knowledge of that complex process and its pitfalls.
