Reading List 10/04/2025

Welcome to the reading list, a weekly roundup of news and links related to buildings, infrastructure, and industrial technology. This week we look at Boeing’s 737 replacement, parking lot investments, a deflected hurricane, opinions on nuclear power, and more. Roughly 2/3rds of the reading list is paywalled, so for full access become a paid subscriber.

No essay this week, but I’m finishing up an essay about the rise in pedestrians killed in motor vehicle accidents that will be out next week.

Thanks to those of you who were able to come out to the book launch party last Friday!

Boeing’s 737 replacement

Boeing is finally working on a new clean-sheet aircraft to replace the aging and beleaguered 737 MAX. This is a big deal, not just because single aisle, twin-engine aircraft (of which the 737 is a type) sell in larger volumes by far than any other aircraft, but because if completed it will be the first clean-sheet aircraft Boeing has developed since the 787, which first flew in 2009. Via the Wall Street Journal ($):

Earlier this year, Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg met with officials from Rolls-Royce Holdings in the U.K., two of the people said, where they discussed a new engine for the aircraft. Ortberg appointed a new senior product chief in Boeing’s commercial plane business, whose prior role was developing a new type of aircraft.

Boeing has also been designing the flight deck of a new narrow-body aircraft, according to a person familiar with the plans.

This new aircraft is in early-stage development and plans are still taking shape, some of the people said.

Boeing’s plans represent a shift for the company, which had put some new aircraft development work on the back burner while it navigated multiple challenges. They are also a sign that the company is betting that a cutting-edge plane design could power its business for the next few decades.

Ortberg hasn’t publicly detailed any plans for a 737 successor. He has consistently said that fixing Boeing’s long-running quality and manufacturing problems, and shoring up its balance sheet, are his priorities.

Developing a new aircraft can typically only be justified when it comes with a substantial fuel savings, so it’ll be interesting to see what strategies Boeing pursues to try to achieve that.

Ticketing a Waymo

We’ve gotten used to hearing about the confabulations and errors that LLMs