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737 Max Software Outsourced to $9-an-Hour Engineers

: Jul 1, 2019 - : 6:14 am

Plagued by issues that could keep the Boeing 737 Max planes grounded months longer, a new flaw has come to the forefront. The Max software was developed at a time Boeing was laying off experienced engineers and pressing suppliers to cut costs.

Boeing had partially outsourced the software development to low-paid subcontractors, reported Bloomberg, suggesting that inadequate quality control practices may have contributed to fatal 737 MAX crashes.

Newly graduated programmers employed by third-party software developers were making as little as $9 an hour, roughly four times less than their own experienced engineers. The company reportedly outsourced flight-display software and programs for flight-test equipment. While the final code allegedly complied with their strict specifications, the efficiency of such work was below expectations, as subcontractors were pressured to avoid any major changes that could cause delay.

The coders were typically designing to specifications set by Boeing. Still, “it was controversial because it was far less efficient than Boeing engineers just writing the code,” said Mark Rabin, a former Boeing software engineer who worked in a flight-test group that supported the Max. He recalled, “it took many rounds going back and forth because the code was not done correctly.”

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