The strike was avoidable. So the $2B could have been saved.
I like how you divined that “The instant I learned that Boeing was having labor trouble, I knew Boeing was going to face difficulty getting this job done on time—or done at all for that matter,”
You are missing a major point. By the time of the strike the program was already in trouble.
Do you think I first learned of their labor problems on the day that they started? I am not saying that labor problems are the only possible cause of a “delay.” But if you don’t have a delay, then you did not set an aggressive enough deadline. There is a difference between a minor delay and a catastrophic delay. Unfortunately, Boeing may soon be facing the latter.