If Joe Average on the shop floor made a similar mistake he would be out the door in no time. The halfwits running boeing should all be sacked.
And replaced with...?? Joe Average?
Really, listen to yourselves! You sound like a bunch of ...Airbus haters!
The 787 is not only a big change for Boeing in terms of structural composition, but also project management. In the same way as the A380 was a radical change for Airbus, Boeing have contracted much of the detail design/manufacture outside of Seattle. And it's not a bad move.
I can't think of any aircraft projects this size that aren't without their teething problems. Boeing have to choose their words carefully as a lot of eyes are watching them at this crucial stage, so they're hardly going to speak their mind about this.
Makes me think, if the structural design problem was with one of the Wing control surfaces (locally design & manufactured), I'd say we would get some very different responses on this forum.