I.

Introduction

The Boeing Company, world’s largest manufacturer of commercial airplanes and military aircraft. Boeing controls more than half of the global market for jet airliners and is the leading supplier of military jets and helicopters, missile systems, and aerospace technology. The company also is one of the leading exporters in the United States. Its headquarters is in Chicago, Illinois.

II.

Early History

The company was founded in Seattle, Washington, by timber executive William Boeing and U.S. Navy engineer Conrad Westervelt. Although Boeing was not an engineer, he realized his true interest was in designing and making aircraft. In 1916 Boeing and Westervelt developed the B&W seaplane, a single-engine aircraft with a top speed of 120 km/h (75 mph). Two months later they formed the Pacific Aero Products Company, renaming their firm the Boeing Airplane Company in 1917. During World War I (1914-1918), the company made training aircraft and flying patrol boats for the U.S. Navy. Originally both a manufacturer and an airline, Boeing began the first international airmail service—from Seattle to Victoria, British Columbia—in 1919. Boeing developed its first commercial aircraft, the Model 40, in 1927 after winning a contract to fly mail for the U.S. Postal Service between Chicago, Illinois, and San Francisco, California.

In 1929 Boeing merged with engine-maker Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company to form United Aircraft and Transport Corporation. The new company subsequently purchased several regional airlines and in 1931 was renamed United Air Lines (see UAL Corporation). New federal antitrust guidelines in 1934 forced the manufacturing and transportation divisions to split, and the Boeing Airplane Company, Pratt & Whitney, and United Air Lines emerged from the dissolution as separate companies.

III.

World War II

With the entry of the United States into World War II (1939-1945), Boeing began producing hundreds of B-17 Flying Fortress bombers. The B-17 was the most important strategic bomber in the American war effort. Production of the bomber peaked in March 1944, when Boeing’s Seattle plant made 362 B-17s. Boeing also produced B-29 Superfortress bombers, one of which, the Enola Gay, dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945 (see World War II). The company introduced the B-52 Stratofortress bomber in 1952.

IV.

Commercial Jet Production

In the early 1950s Boeing began developing a commercial jet to compete with the popular propeller-driven planes of the Douglas Aircraft Company. Launched into service in 1958, the B-707 became the basis for Boeing’s hugely successful line of commercial airliners: the 727, the 737, and the 747. In 1961 the company changed its name from the Boeing Airplane Company to The Boeing Company, reflecting its expansion into fields beyond airplane manufacture. For example, Boeing designed and built the first stages of the Saturn rockets used to launch the Apollo spacecraft to the Moon (see Apollo program).

The 747, the first wide-body “jumbo jet,” entered service in January 1970 and seated as many as 490 passengers. Although the 747 would become the premier transcontinental jet in the world, its development pushed Boeing to the edge of bankruptcy. The company laid off about 60 percent of its workforce in the early 1970s before a new surge of commercial and military orders helped it recover. The smaller 737 became the world’s best-selling passenger jet.

V.

Recent Developments

In the early 1990s, a prolonged airline industry slump and increased competition from Airbus Industrie (see Airbus) forced Boeing to eliminate about 25 percent of its workforce. A lengthy workers’ strike in 1995 cost the company significant revenues. Also in 1995 the company launched into service the midsize 777 jet, the first jet designed and modeled entirely on computers. The new jet helped the company win billions of dollars worth of new orders.

As a primary contractor for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Boeing has supplied advanced electronics, rocket boosters, and components for the International Space Station project (see Space Station). In 1996 Boeing acquired the defense and aerospace divisions of Rockwell International Corporation for $3.2 billion, giving Boeing contracts for the construction of NASA space shuttle orbiters and their liquid-fuel main engines.

In 1997 Boeing acquired rival McDonnell Douglas Corporation for more than $16 billion, the largest merger ever in the aerospace industry. The merger dramatically strengthened Boeing’s military aircraft and defense businesses. However, following the merger Boeing experienced a series of setbacks. Facing a record number of orders for its commercial jets, Boeing was plagued by severe parts and labor shortages. Production delays forced the company to shut down assembly of its 737 and 747 jets for a month. The production problems, combined with the costs of phasing out production of McDonnell Douglas’s MD-80 and MD-90 passenger jets, led to billions of dollars in losses in 1997 and Boeing’s first annual loss since 1947.

In 1998 Boeing announced that it would stop producing the MD-11 wide-body jet, leaving the 717 (formerly called the MD-95) as the only remaining model from McDonnell Douglas’s line of jets. In 2000 Boeing acquired Hughes Electronics Corporation’s space and communications division, the world’s largest satellite manufacturing operation, in a deal valued at $3.75 billion.

In 2001 Boeing moved its company headquarters from Seattle to Chicago. In 2007 Boeing introduced the 787 passenger jet aircraft, also called the Dreamliner. The 787 was notable for being the first commercial aircraft with a primary structure made largely of composite material, mostly carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP). Traditionally the structural framework of an airplane is made of aluminum. The 787 was dubbed the “first plastic airplane,” although earlier military aircraft, such as the B-2 stealth bomber, had been made largely of composite material. The composite material used in the 787 is stronger, lighter, and more resistant to corrosion than aluminum. The lighter weight of the 787 enables it to carry more passengers without using more fuel than an airplane with a traditional, aluminum structure.

See also Airplane: History; Aerospace Industry; Military Aviation; Air Warfare.