America: My Time

Chapter 503 The Fokker Crisis
Chapter 503 The Fokker Crisis
“Carroll, cut off Fokker’s funding if necessary. Without funding, how will they conduct research and development? And if all else fails, then wipe out the entire Fokker. Although we don’t want to see this happen, we cannot tolerate their provocations. If they think the success of the Fokker 100 is remarkable, then they are simply too stupid. If it weren’t for the Pan Am order, how could the Fokker 100 have developed so quickly? This is not due to their ability, but to the company’s support!”

That's just how people are. Fokker is now full of confidence, believing that the success of the Fokker 100 is a testament to their capabilities, forgetting that 70% of their orders came from Pan Am. Now they want to continue developing the abandoned Fokker 70, which only shows that they've gotten carried away. Without Pan Am's orders, there would be no Fokker as we know it today.

“Boss, we don’t have enough control over Fokker. If their designers all object, I’m afraid Fokker will lose its research and development capabilities after the cleanup.” Although he understood his boss’s intentions, Carol Tomé still voiced his concerns. If it really came to that, Fokker would be finished.

"No, that won't happen. Not everyone has dreams to pursue; most people just need job stability. This is just them testing the waters. However, it also shows that we can no longer rely entirely on Fokker. We need our own R&D team. Fokker's future focus will still be on regional jets. We need to take control of wide-body mainline aircraft ourselves. We need to ensure our engineers thoroughly understand the Fokker 100 design before designing wide-body aircraft. The regional jet market is limited, and we can't just focus on it! If possible, we can transfer those who are willing to leave Fokker to De Havilland Aircraft Company in Canada. We need their expertise!"

Breaking it up—John already had the idea of ​​splitting Fokker in mind. A disobedient company was a ticking time bomb for Gulfstream Aerospace, ready to explode at any moment and deliver a fatal blow. If the production line couldn't operate, then they'd move the design team, transferring Fokker's team to de Havilland Aircraft. There were plenty of reasons and excuses; as long as someone was willing to leave, it wouldn't be a problem! This was John's solution: a swift and decisive move. At this point, there was absolutely no room for delay; the longer it dragged on, the bigger the problem became, and the more dangerous Gulfstream Aerospace would be.

Of course, doing so would also reduce Fokker's capabilities, but John had no other choice at the moment. Gulfstream Aerospace could not be affected or hindered by Fokker's problems. Regional jets were not the focus of development at the moment because it was the 1980s and the market for regional jets was small, even in the United States. Therefore, wide-body aircraft were the development direction for Gulfstream Aerospace.

The Fokker affair was quickly suppressed by Carole Tomé, who cut off funding to make it clear to them that the head office was determined not to let them waste any more time and money on the development of regional jets like the Fokker 70. Faced with the powerful Gulfstream Aerospace, the Fokker guys immediately backed down, and no one talked about the Fokker 70 anymore. They had to turn to the development of wide-body aircraft, since their funding was now restricted by the head office.

Thanks to the global online network and powerful professional servers and workstations, Gulfstream Aerospace was fully aware of Fokker's research and development. No matter what ideas you had, you had to obey the arrangements of the head office. Wide-body large passenger aircraft was Gulfstream Aerospace's important research project. This project could not be done by Fokker alone. It required all the resources of Gulfstream Aerospace. De Havilland Aircraft Company was also involved in the research and development, and even Gulfstream itself was frantically recruiting talents.

The development of Gulfstream Aerospace's large aircraft was naturally known to aviation giants Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, and Airbus. However, they did not take Gulfstream Aerospace, a relatively minor player, seriously and did not believe that Gulfstream Aerospace could succeed. In their eyes, Gulfstream Aerospace simply did not have the necessary technological reserves.

However, such research and development has also attracted the attention of many airlines. After all, it takes time to design and complete a passenger aircraft. No one can guarantee that Gulfstream will have no achievements in a few years. Moreover, Gulfstream is not as bad as imagined. At least the Fokker 100 has been recognized by many airlines, and it is not impossible to make further progress.

No one doubts Gulfstream Aerospace's financial strength these days; they're overwhelmed with large orders from Middle Eastern tycoons. So this incident has attracted the attention of many airlines, who believe that Gulfstream Aerospace has the capability to develop its own large aircraft.

Although Gulfstream Aerospace was careful to keep it a secret, the Fokker incident still came to the attention of the outside world. It was undoubtedly the work of the enemy, or more accurately, a major operation by Airbus. They did not want to see another company competing with them for this limited market, so they informed the media of the Fokker situation immediately.

Words like "disrespectful to designers" and "disrespectful to employees" were used to describe Gulfstream Aerospace. This situation had a significant impact on Fokker, causing unrest among the staff. John and Carol Tomey were extremely disappointed by this incident, as Fokker's research and development work was affected.

Heart-to-heart talks? Useless. At this point, even the most eloquent words wouldn't convince Focke's researchers to trust Gulfstream Aerospace. They preferred to trust Airbus and their own team. The worst-case scenario had occurred, the one John and Carol Tomey least wanted to see. A mishandling of the situation would damage the company's image and hinder its plans. Airbus's small action had ruined Gulfstream's plans, infuriating John. McDonnell Douglas and Boeing were also fueling the fire, putting Gulfstream under considerable pressure. A purge, though unwilling, was necessary. At this point, Gulfstream had no choice; whoever was responsible for the incident would be held accountable.

“This is impossible! Our team will not accept this!” When Carol Tomey tried to dismantle Focke’s R&D team, he immediately encountered resistance. These guys did not accept such an outcome.

"I'm afraid this is not up to you. The company's decision will not change. Because of your leak, the company has suffered a great deal of impact. So someone has to take responsibility. The company's notice has been issued. If you are not willing to accept the company's arrangements, then you only have one choice: to leave. Leave with your dreams. Fok doesn't welcome you! Fok wants employees who can follow the company's arrangements, not a group of employees who hold onto their so-called dreams."

Shock. At this moment, the Fokker staff were all shocked. They did not expect that the CEO of Gulfstream Aerospace would make such a decision. Wasn't she worried that after losing the R&D team, Fokker would fall into an embarrassing situation of being unable to conduct research and development? Even if the Fokker 100 was good, it was impossible to continue producing it indefinitely.

These people think too highly of themselves. Perhaps it's because Gulfstream Aerospace has a production line in the US and has received huge orders, making them believe that their research and development is the best in Gulfstream Aerospace and that Gulfstream Aerospace cannot do without their research and development team. It can only be said that they are too presumptuous. The world can do without anyone, and they are not as important as they imagine.

Perhaps some people don't care about leaving Fokker, but most R&D personnel are unwilling to leave. The world's overall economy is not ideal right now, and if they leave Fokker, they will have to find new jobs. As for joining Airbus, many of them cannot accept it. They are unwilling to leave Fokker, unwilling to go to de Havilland Aircraft Company in Canada, and naturally unwilling to go to Airbus. Staying is the idea of ​​most R&D personnel.

Carol Tomé didn't give these people much time to consider, and said with a cold laugh, "The company doesn't have that much time and energy to waste on you. Whether you leave or stay and follow the company's arrangements is up to you. Now is the time for you to make a choice. We have evidence that you have violated company rules. Please make your decision!"

Faced with the powerful Carol Tomey, Fokker had no choice but to compromise and admit defeat, because they dared not gamble and could not afford to. If the team were to disband, it might plunge them into a huge disaster. Gulfstream Aerospace's legal department was not just for show; they would have to pay a considerable price for it. As for Airbus's proposal, hardly anyone cared.

"Okay, you win. We accept the company's arrangement. But I want to say that splitting up the existing R&D team will only be a waste of time. We are willing to accept the company's arrangement and focus all our efforts on developing the large aircraft, and no longer consider the development of the Fokker 70!"

Upon hearing this, Carol Tomé's expression changed. He nodded and said, "If you can follow the head office's arrangements and focus all your efforts on developing large aircraft, retaining the existing R&D team will not be a problem. The company is not necessarily going to stop your development of the Fokker 70, but the aviation market has no place for it. The current aviation industry does not have a large demand for regional jets. We see no hope of success for the Fokker 70. In contrast, mainline large aircraft have a much larger market. The market determines the company's development prospects, and we cannot go against the market."

As soon as Carole Tomé finished speaking, the Fokker R&D personnel seemed to be deep in thought. They had indeed been too radical. The Fokker 100 was successful because there was market demand, but the Fokker 70 could not. However, this was not a problem for large mainline aircraft. The market is the foundation of everything, and R&D without the market is meaningless!
(End of this chapter)