Boeing used to be the pride of American manufacturing. Now it can’t do much of anything right.

That is, of course, something of an exaggeration. It’s not like Boeing can’t sell any of its aircraft anymore, or their planes keep falling out of the sky, at least not since the 737 Max disasters.

Yeah, there was that. But mostly their aircraft are safe and reliable, and I wouldn’t feel unsafe in a Boeing aircraft, and even would have flown an American version of the 737 Max with an American pilot even before the problems were resolved.

But the problems with the 737 Max were emblematic of Boeing’s larger issues: a manufacturer that used to be singularly focused on quality and reliability seems to have taken its eyes off that ball and fixed them firmly on quarter-to-quarter margins. And because of that, they just don’t seem to be that good an engineering company anymore.

Think of the KC-46 tanker. It is years late and still can’t refuel some aircraft critical to America’s warfighting capability. Meant to be a replacement for the KC-135, a now nearly 70-year-old design that went from concept to execution in a few years. The KC-46 has been 20 years in the making and still can’t do its job properly.

I was prompted to think about this by the news that Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft’s manned mission to space is indefinitely delayed. Troubled from the beginning, the capsule has turned out to be a very expensive lemon.

Way back in the dark ages Boeing and SpaceX were each awarded contracts to ferry astronauts to space. Boeing was awarded $4.3 billion to make their reusable capsule, and SpaceX was awarded $2.5 billion for a spacecraft with the same capabilities. At the time, Elon Musk joked that he should have made his bid more costly.

Since then SpaceX has run rings around Boeing, which has tested its craft twice unmanned, with one test a total failure due to a software glitch, and another a partial failure due to mechanical and software issues. As it sits on the ground now it is unsafe to fly.

Boeing has so far lost over a billion dollars on its outrageously expensive contract, and it hasn’t put an astronaut into space.

A difficult summer for the Starliner program continued this week, with Boeing reporting additional losses on the vehicle’s development and NASA saying it’s too early to discuss potential launch dates for the crewed spacecraft.

Throughout this spring, NASA and Boeing had been working toward a July launch date of the spacecraft, which will carry two astronauts for the first time. However, just weeks before this launch was due to occur, Boeing announced on June 1 that there were two serious issues with Starliner. One of these involved the “soft links” in the lines that connect the Starliner capsule to its parachutes, and the second problem came with hundreds of feet of P-213 glass cloth tape inside the spacecraft found to be flammable.

SpaceX, on the other hand, has been making regular flights to and from the space station, and NASA has already extended its contract to keep flying astronauts. It has been flying for 4 years. Boeing? Will it ever get off the ground?

You see the same problem with the SLS (Space Launch System) of which Boeing is one of the manufacturers, which–assuming it ever gets off the ground–is a beast of a rocket that simply isn’t worth the price of admission. SpaceX is putting up spacecraft at a blistering pace and reusing the launchers again and again, the SLS is years late, going to cost $2 billion per launch PLUS the development costs, is plagued by technical issues, and throws away extremely valuable and potentially reusable components such as the recycled Space Shuttle engines.

It is an utterly ridiculous rocket. Basically recycled Space Shuttle components, only vastly more expensive and completely disposable. It can lift a lot of mass, assuming it gets off the ground successfully. It is already 6 years late, and over $27 billion has been spent developing it.

Yikes. What a disaster. I hope it works better than Starliner.

It is easy to dismiss American manufacturing as no longer top-notch, but I think that is wrong. Rather, it seems to me that America’s large, incumbent manufacturers got fat and happy, while newer companies like Tesla and SpaceX are still fairly young and hungry.

Whatever the reason, Boeing is one of the most important companies in the United States. Our trade deficit would be even higher without them, as they are one of our biggest exporters.

Let’s hope they get their act together.