W P Dixon wrote:
Yes Jim,
You are wrong, I've worked in the biz for over 20 years. And you know
what! Most places hire Joe Smoe right off the street and show him how to
shoot rivets and put him or her on the line.....shocking isn't it.

OK, but I think you're missing a few points:

1) The shop is not entirely brand new people.
2) There is labor not directly put into assembling the product
(training, supervision, management, payroll).
3) There is some wasted labor (employess who turn out to be no good)
4) There is cost of labor in addition to the hourly wage (taxes,
benefits)
5) Other miscellaneous expenses (keep the lights on, pay off
machinery and tools)

This is why, even if an airplane can be built with 500 man-hours, the
cost to the company will be much higher than the $10-15 an hour
paycheck that the Joe Smoe gets.