History of Boeing
this is the history of american aerospace manufacturing company boeing history before 1930 and 1909 william e boeing a wealthy lumber entrepreneur who studied at yale university became fascinated with airplanes after seeing one at the alaska yukon pacific exposition in seattle in 1910 he bought the heath shipyard a wooden boat manufacturing facility at the mouth of the duwamish river which would become his first airplane factory in 1915 boeing traveled to los angeles to be taught flying by glenn martin and purchased a martin flying birdcage seaplane the aircraft was shipped disassembled by rail to the northeast shore of lake union where martin's pilot and handyman james floyd smith assembled it in a tent hangar the birdcage was damaged in a crash during testing and when martin informed boeing that replacement parts would not become available for months boeing realized he could build his own plane in that amount of time he put the idea to his friend george conrad westervilt a u.s navy engineer who agreed to work on an improved design and helped build the new airplane called the b w seaplane boeing made good use of his duwamish boatworks and its woodworkers under the direction of edward heath from whom he bought it in fabricating wooden components to be assembled at lake union westervilt was transferred to the east coast by the navy before the plane was finished however boeing hired wang's soo to replace westerville's engineering expertise and completed two b ws in the lakeside hangar on june 15 1916 the b w took its maiden flight seeing the opportunity to be a regular producer of airplanes with the expertise of mr wong suitable productive facilities and an abundant supply of spruce wood suitable for aircraft boeing incorporated his airplane manufacturing business as pacific aero products co on july 15 1916. the b and w airplanes were offered to the u.s navy but they were not interested and regular production of airplanes would not begin until u.s entry into world war one a year later on april 26 1917 boeing changed the name to the boeing airplane company boeing was later reincorporated in delaware the original certificate of incorporation was filed with the secretary of state of delaware on july 19 1934 in 1917 the company moved its operations to boeing's duwamish boatworks which became boeing plant one the boeing airplane company's first engineer was wang soo a chinese graduate of the massachusetts institute of technology hired by boeing in may 1916. he designed the boeing model c which was boeing's first financial success on april 6 1917 the u.s had declared war
on germany and entered world war 1. with the u.s entering the war boeing knew that the u.s navy needed seaplanes for training so boeing shipped two new model seas to pensacola florida where the planes were flown for the navy the navy liked the model c and ordered 50 more in light of this financial windfall from bill boeing onward the company's chief executives through the decades were careful to note that without wang soo's efforts especially with the model c the company might not have survived the early years to become the dominant world aircraft manufacturer when world war 1 ended in 1918 a large surplus of cheap used military planes flooded the commercial airplane market preventing aircraft companies from selling any new airplanes driving many out of business others including boeing started selling other products boeing built dressers counters and furniture along with flat-bottom boats called sea sleds in 1919 the boeing b-1 flying boat made its first flight it accommodated one pilot and two passengers and some mail over the course of eight years it made international airmail flights from seattle to victoria british columbia on may 24 1920 the boeing model 8 made its first flight it was the first airplane to fly over mount rainier in 1923 boeing entered competition against curtis to develop a pursuit fighter for the u.s army air service the army accepted both designs and boeing continued to develop its pw9 fighter into the subsequent radial engined f-2bf-3b and p-12 f-4b fighters which made boeing a leading manufacturer of fighters over the course of the next decade in 1925 boeing built its model 40 male airplane for the u.s government to use
on airmail routes in 1927 an improved version the model 40a was built the model 40a won the u.s post office's contract to deliver mail between san francisco and chicago this model also had a cabin to accommodate two passengers that same year boeing created an airline named boeing air transport which merged a year later with pacific air transport and the boeing airplane company the first airmail flight for the airline was on july 1 1927. in 1929 the company merged with pratt and whitney hamilton aero manufacturing company and chance bought under the new title united aircraft and transport corporation the merger was followed by the acquisition of the sikorsky manufacturing corporation steerman aircraft corporation and standard metal propeller company united aircraft then purchased national air transport in 1930. on july 27 1928 the 12-passenger boeing 80 biplane made its first flight with three engines it was boeing's first plane built with the sole intention of being a passenger transport an upgraded version the ada carrying 18 passengers made its first flight in september 1929 1930s and 1940s in the early 1930s boeing became a leader in all-metal aircraft construction and in the design revolution that established the path for transport aircraft through the 1930s in 1930 boeing built the monomail a low-wing all-metal monoplane that carried mail the low-drag airframe with cantilever wings and the retractable landing gear was so revolutionary that the engines and propellers of the time were not adequate to realize the potential of the plane by the time controllable pitch propellers were developed boeing was building its model 247 airliner two monomails were built the second one the model 221 had a six-passenger cabin in 1931 the monomail design became the foundation of the boeing yb9 the first all-metal cantilever wing monoplane bomber five examples entered service between september 1932 and march 1933 the performance of the twin-engine monoplane bomber led to a reconsideration of air defense requirements although it was soon rendered obsolete by rapidly advancing bomber designs in 1932 boeing introduced the model 248 the first all-metal monoplane fighter the p-26 peashooter was in front-line service with the u.s army air corps from 1934 to 1938. in 1933 the boeing 247 was introduced which set the standard for all competitors in the passenger transport market the 247 was an all-metal low-wing monoplane that was much faster safer and easier to fly than other passenger aircraft for example it was the first twin-engine passenger aircraft that could fly on one engine in an era of unreliable engines this vastly improved flight safety boeing built the first 59 aircraft exclusively for its own united airlines subsidiaries operations the direction established with the 247 was further developed by douglas aircraft resulting in one of the most successful designs in aviation history the air mail act of 1934 prohibited airlines and manufacturers from being under the same corporate umbrella so the company split into three smaller companies boeing airplane company united airlines and united aircraft corporation the precursor to united technologies boeing retained the steerman facilities in wichita kansas following the breakup of united aircraft william boeing sold off his shares and left boeing claremont clare l who had become boeing's president in 1933 became the chairman as well he believed the company's future was in building bigger planes work began in 1936 on boeing plant 2 to accommodate the production of larger modern aircraft from 1934 to 1937 boeing was developing an experimental long-range bomber the xb15 at its introduction in 1937 it was the largest heavier-than-aircraft built to date trials revealed that its speed was unsatisfactory but the design experience was used in the development of the model 299 prototype 4 engine bomber of 1935 which was developed into the yb17 of 1936 and the model 314 flying boat that first flew in 1938 overlapping with the period of the yb15 development an agreement with pan-american world airways was reached to develop and build a commercial flying boat able to carry passengers on transoceanic routes the first flight of the boeing 314 clipper was in june 1938.
it was the largest civil aircraft of its time with a capacity of 90 passengers on day flights and of 40 passengers on night flights one year later the first regular passenger service from the u.s to the uk was inaugurated subsequently other routes were opened so that soon panum flew with the boeing 314 to destinations all over the world in 1938 boeing completed work on its model 307 stratoliner this was the world's first pressurized cabin transport aircraft and it was capable of cruising at an altitude of 20 000 feet above most weather disturbances it was based on the b-17 using the same wings tail and engines during world war ii boeing built a large number of b-17 and b-29 bombers boeing ranked 12th among united states corporations in the value of wartime production contracts many of the workers were women whose husbands had gone to war in the beginning of march 1944 production had been scaled up in such a manner that over 350 planes were built each month to prevent an attack from the air the manufacturing plants had been covered with greenery and farmland items during the war years the leading aircraft companies of the u.s cooperated the boeing-designed b-17 bomber was assembled also by vega and douglas aircraft co while the b-29 was assembled also by bell aircraft co and by glenn l martin company in 1942 boeing started the development of the c97 strato freighter the first of a generation of heavy lift military transports it became operational in 1947. the c97 design would be successfully adapted for use as an aerial refuelling tanker although its role as a mode of transport was soon limited by designs that had advantages in either versatility or capacity after the war most orders of bombers were canceled and 70 000 people lost their jobs at boeing the company aimed to recover quickly by selling its stratacruiser a luxurious 4-engine commercial airliner derived from the c97 however sales of this model were not as expected and boeing had to seek other opportunities to overcome the situation in 1947 boeing flew its first jet aircraft the xb47 from which the highly successful b-47 and b-52 bombers were derived 1950s boeing developed military jets such as the b-47 strataget and b-52 stratofortress bombers in the late 1940s and into the 1950s during the early 1950s boeing used company funds to develop the 367-80 jet airliner demonstrator that led to the kc-135 stratotanker and boeing 707 jetliner some of these were built at boeing's facilities in wichita kansas which existed from 1931 to 2014. between the last delivery of a 377 in 1950 and the first order for the 707 in 1955 boeing was shut out of the commercial aircraft market in the mid-1950s technology had advanced significantly which gave boeing the opportunity to develop and manufacture new products one of the first was the guided short-range missile used to intercept enemy aircraft by that time the cold war had become a fact of life and boeing used its short-range missile technology to develop and build an intercontinental missile in 1958 boeing began delivery of its 707 the united states first commercial jet airliner in response to the british de havilland comet french sud aviation caravel and soviet tupolev ii 104 which were the world's first generation of commercial jet aircraft with the 707 a 4-engine 156-passenger airliner the u.s became a leader in commercial jet manufacturing a few years later boeing added a second version of this aircraft the boeing 720 which was slightly faster and had a shorter range boeing was a major producer of small turbine engines during the 1950s and 1960s the engines represented one of the company's major efforts to expand its product base beyond military aircraft after world war ii development on the gas turbine engine started in 1943 and boeing's gas turbines were designated models 502520540 551 and 553 boeing built 2461 engines before production ceased in april 1968.
many applications of the boeing gas turbine engines were considered to be firsts including the first turbine-powered helicopter and boat 1960s vertol aircraft corporation was acquired by boeing in 1960 and was reorganized as boeing's vertol division the twin rotor ch-47 chinook produced by vertol took its first flight in 1961. this heavy lift helicopter remains a workhorse vehicle to the present day in 1964 vertoll also began production of the ch-46 sea night in december 1960 boeing announced the model 727 jetliner which went into commercial service about three years later different passenger freight and convertible freighter variants were developed for the 727 the 727 was the first commercial jetliner to reach 1000 sales on may 21 1961 the company shortened its name to the current boeing company boeing won a contract in 1961 to manufacture the sic stage of the saturn v rocket manufactured at the machad assembly facility in new orleans louisiana in 1966 boeing president william m allen asked malcolm t stamper to spearhead production of the new 747 airliner on which the company's future was riding this was a monumental engineering and management challenge and included the construction of the world's biggest factory in which to build the 747 at everett washington a plant which is the size of 40 football fields in 1967 boeing introduced another short and medium-range airliner the twin engine 737 it has since become the best-selling commercial jet aircraft in aviation history several versions have been developed mainly to increase seating capacity and range the 737 remains in production as of february 2018 with the latest 737 max series the roll-out ceremonies for the first 747-100 took place in 1968 at the massive new factory in everett about an hour's drive from boeing seattle home the aircraft made its first flight a year later the first commercial flight occurred in 1970. the 747 has an intercontinental range and a larger seating capacity than boeing's previous aircraft boeing also developed hydrofoils in the 1960s the screw-driven uss highpoint was an experimental submarine hunter the patrol hydrofoil uss tucumcari was more successful only one was built but it saw service in vietnam and europe before running aground in 1972. its waterjet and fully submersed flying foils were the examples for the later pegasus-class patrol hydrofoils and the model 929 foil ferries in the 1980s the tucumcari and later boats were produced in renton while the navy hydrofoils were withdrawn from service in the late 1980s the boeing jetfoils are still in service in asia 1970s in the early 1970s boeing suffered from the simultaneous decline in vietnam war military spending the slowing of the space program as project apollo neared completion the recession of 1969-70 291 and the company's 2 billion debt as it built the new 747 airliner 303 boeing did not receive any orders for more than a year its bet for the future the 747 was delayed in production by three months because of problems with its pratt and whitney engines then in march 1971 congress voted to discontinue funding for the development of the boeing 2707 supersonic transport the us's answer to the british french concorde forcing the end of the project commercial airplane group by far the largest unit of boeing went from 83 700 employees in 1968 to 20750 in 1971.
each unemployed boeing employee cost at least one other job in the seattle area and unemployment rose to 14 the highest in the united states housing vacancy rates rose to 16 from 1 percent in 1967. u-haul dealerships ran out of trailers because so many people moved out a billboard appeared near the airport 303-304 will the last person leaving seattle turn out the lights 303 in january 1970 the first 747 a four-engine long-range airliner flew its first commercial flight with pan-american world airways the 747 changed the airline industry providing much larger seating capacity than any other airliner in production the company has delivered over 1500 boeing 747s the 747 has undergone continuous improvements to keep it technologically up-to-date larger versions have also been developed by stretching the upper deck the newest version of the 747 the 747-8 remains in production as of 2018. boeing launched three jetfoil 929 hydrofoils that were acquired in 1975 for service in the hawaiian islands when the service ended in 1979 the three hydrofoils were acquired by far east hydrofoil for service between hong kong and macau during the 1970s boeing also developed the u.s standard light rail vehicle which has been used in san francisco boston and morgantown west virginia 1980s in 1983 the economic situation began to improve boeing assembled its 1737-passenger aircraft during the following years commercial aircraft and their military versions became the basic equipment of airlines and air forces as passenger air traffic increased the competition was harder mainly from airbus a european newcomer in commercial airliner manufacturing boeing had to offer new aircraft and develop the single isle 757 the larger twin isle 767 and upgraded versions of the 737 an important project of these years was the space shuttle to which boeing contributed with its experience in space rockets acquired during the apollo era boeing participated also with other products in the space program and was the first contractor for the international space station program during the decade several military projects went into production including boeing's support of the b-2 stealth bomber as part of an industry team led by northrop boeing built the b-2's outer wing portion aft center fuselage section landing gear fuel system and weapons delivery system at its peak in 1991 the b-2 was the largest military program at boeing employing about 10 000 people the same year the us's national aeronautic association awarded the b-2 design team the collier trophy for the greatest achievement in aerospace in america the first b-2 rolled out of the bomber's final assembly facility in palmdale california in november 1988 and it flew for the first time on july 17 1989.
the avenger air defense system and a new generation of short-range missiles also went into production during these years boeing was very active in upgrading existing military equipment and developing new ones boeing also contributed to wine power development with the experimental mod 2 wind turbines for nasa and the united states department of energy and the mod5b for hawaii 1990s boeing was one of seven competing companies that bid for the advanced tactical fighter boeing agreed to team with general dynamics and lockheed so that all three companies would participate in the development if one of the three companies designs was selected the lockheed design was eventually selected and developed into the f-22 raptor in april 1994 boeing introduced the most modern commercial jet aircraft at the time the twin engine 777 with a seating capacity of approximately 300 to 370 passengers in a typical three-class layout in between the 767 and the 747 the longest-range twin-engined aircraft in the world the 777 was the first boeing airliner to feature a fly-by-wire system and was conceived partly in response to the inroads being made by the european airbus into boeing's traditional market this aircraft reached an important milestone by being the first airliner to be designed entirely by using computer-aided design techniques the 777 was also the first airplane to be certified for 180-minute e-tops at entry into service by the faa also in the mid-1990s the company developed the revamped version of the 737 known as the 737 next generation or 737 ng it has since become the fastest selling version of the 737 in history and on april 20 2006 sales passed those of the classic 737 with a follow-up order for 79 aircraft from southwest airlines in 1995 boeing chose to demolish the headquarters complex on east marginal way south instead of upgrading it to match new seismic standards the headquarters were moved to an adjacent building and the facility was demolished in 1996 in 1997 boeing was headquartered on east marginal way south by king county airport in seattle in 1996 boeing acquired rockwell's aerospace and defense units the rockwell business units became a subsidiary of boeing named boeing north american inc in december 1996 boeing announced its intention to merge with mcdonnell douglas and following regulatory approval this was completed on august 4 1997. this had been delayed by objections from the european commission which ultimately placed three conditions on the merger termination of exclusivity agreements with three u.s airlines separate accounts would be maintained for the mcdonnell douglas civil aircraft business and some defense patents were to be made available to competitors following the merger the mcdonnell douglas md-95 was renamed the boeing 717 and the production of the md-11 tri-jet was limited to the freighter version boeing introduced a new corporate identity with completion of the merger incorporating the boeing stratotype wordmark introduced in 1947 and a stylized version of the mcdonnell douglas symbol which was the adoption of the douglas aircraft logo from 1962. it was done by graphic designer rick iber followed a request from boeing an aerospace analyst criticized the ceo and his deputy philip m condid and harry stonecipher for thinking of their personal benefits first and causing the problems to boeing many years later instead of investing the huge cash reserve to build new airplanes they initiated a program to buy back boeing stock for more than 10 billion united states dollars in may 1999 boeing studied buying embryo to encourage commonality between the e-jets and the boeing 717 but this was nixed by then-president harry stonecipher he preferred buying bombardier aerospace but its owner the bodoyn family asked for a price too high for boeing which remembered its mid-1980s purchase of de havilland canada losing a million dollars every day for three years before selling it to bombadier in 1992 2000 to 2009 in january 2000. boeing chose to expand its presence in another aerospace field of satellite communications by purchasing hughes electronics in march 2001 boeing announced the pending relocation of its headquarters from seattle to one of three cities chicago dallas or denver all three had offered packages of multi-million dollar tax breaks and the selection of chicago was announced on may 10. the move was completed in early september just before 9 11.
its offices are located in the fulton river district just outside the chicago loop in october 2001 boeing lost to its rival lockheed martin in the fierce competition for the multi-billion dollar joint strike fighter contract boeing's entry the x-32 was rejected in favor of lockheed's x-35 boeing continues to serve as the prime contractor on the international space station and has built several of the major components boeing began development of the kc-767 aerial refuelling tanker in the early 2000s italy and japan ordered four kc 767s each after development delays and faa certification boeing delivered the tankers to japan from 2008 with the second kc 767 following on march 5 to 2010 italy received its 4kc 767 during 2011. in 2004 boeing ended production of the 757 after 1050 aircraft were produced more advanced stretched versions of the 737 were beginning to compete against the 757 and the plan 787-3 was to fill much of the top end of the 757 markets also that year boeing announced that the 717 the last civil aircraft to be designed by mcdonnell douglas would cease production in 2006. the 767 was in danger of cancellation as well with the 787 replacing it but orders for the freighter version extended the program after several decades of success boeing lost ground to airbus and subsequently lost its lead in the airliner market in 2003. multiple boeing projects were pursued and then cancelled notably the sonic cruiser a proposed jetliner that would travel just under the speed of sound cutting intercontinental travel times by as much as 20 it was launched in 2001 along with a new advertising campaign to promote the company's new motto forever new frontiers and to rehabilitate its image however the plane's fate was sealed by the changes in the commercial aviation market following the september 11 attacks and the subsequent weak economy and an increase in fuel prices subsequently boeing streamlined its production and turned its attention to a new model the boeing 787 dreamliner using much of the technology developed for the sonic cruiser but in a more conventional aircraft designed for maximum efficiency the company also launched new variants of its successful 737 and 777 models the 787 proved to be a highly popular choice with airlines and won a record number of pre-launch orders with delays to airbus a 380 program several airlines threatened to switch their a380 orders to boeing's new 747 version the 747-8 airbus's response to the 787 the a350 received a lukewarm response at first when it was announced as an improved version of the a330 and then gained significant orders when airbus promised an entirely new design the 787 program encountered delays with the first flight not occurring until late 2009 after regulatory approval boeing formed a joint venture united launch alliance with its competitor lockheed martin on december 1 2006. the new venture is the largest provider of rocket launch services to the u.s government in 2005 gary scott ex-boeing executive and then head of bombardier's c-series program suggested a collaboration on the upcoming c-series but an internal study assessed embryo as the best partner for regional jets the brazilian government wanted to retain control and blocked an acquisition on august 2 2005 boeing sold its rocketdyne rocket engine division to pratt and whitney on may 1 2006 boeing agreed to purchase dallas texas-based avial inc for 1.7 billion and retained 350 million
dollars in debt avial inc and its subsidiaries avial services inc and ils formed a wholly owned subsidiary of boeing commercial aviation services realizing that increasing numbers of passengers have become reliant on their computers to stay in touch boeing introduced connection by boeing a satellite-based internet connectivity service that promised air travelers unprecedented access to the world wide web the company debuted the product to journalists in 2005 receiving generally favorable reviews however facing competition from cheaper options such as cellular networks it proved too difficult to sell to most airlines in august 2006 after a short and unsuccessful search for a buyer for the business boeing chose to discontinue the service on august 18 2007 nasa selected boeing as the manufacturing contractor for the liquid-fueled upper stage of the aries eye rocket the stage based on both apollo saturn and space shuttle technologies was to be constructed at nasa's mashad assembly facility near new orleans boeing constructed the sic stage of the saturn v rocket at this site in the 1960s boeing launched the 777 freighter in may 2005 with an order from air france the freighter variant is based on the -200lr other customers include fedex and emirates boeing officially announced in november 2005 that it would produce a larger variant of the 747 the 747-8 in two versions commencing with the freighter version with firm orders for two cargo carriers the second version named the intercontinental is for passenger airlines both 747-8 versions feature a lengthened fuselage new advanced engines and wings and the incorporation of other technologies developed for the 787. boeing also received the launch contract from the u.s navy for the p-8 poseidon multi-mission maritime aircraft an anti-submarine warfare patrol aircraft it has also received orders for the 737 aew and c wedgetail aircraft the company has also introduced new extended range versions of the 737 these include the 737 to 700 er and 737-900 er the 737-900 er is the latest and will extend the range of the 737-900 to a similar range as the successful 737-800 with the capability to fly more passengers due to the addition of two extra emergency exits the 777-200lr world liner embarked on a well-received global demonstration tour in the second half of 2005 showing off its capacity to fly farther than any other commercial aircraft on november 10 2005 the 777-200lr set a world record for the longest non-stop flight the plane which departed from hong kong traveling to london took a longer route which included flying over the us it flew 11 664 nautical miles during its 22-hour 42-minute flight it was flown by pakistan international airlines pilots and pia was the first airline to fly the 777 to 200 lr world liner on august 11 2006 boeing agreed to form a joint venture with the large russian titanium producer vsmpo avasma for the machining of titanium forgings the forgings will be used on the 787 program in december 2007 boeing and vsmpo avisma created a joint venture ural boeing manufacturing and signed a contract on titanium product deliveries until 2015 with boeing planning to invest 27 billion in russia over the next 30 years in february 2011 boeing received a contract for 179 kc 46 u.s air force
tankers at a value of 35 billion the kc-46 tankers are based on the kc 767 boeing along with science applications international corporation were the prime contractors in the u.s military's future combat systems program the fcs program was cancelled in june 2009 with all remaining systems swept into the bct modernization program boeing works jointly with saic in the bct modernization program like the fcs program but the u.s army will play a greater role in creating baseline vehicles and will only contract others for accessories defense secretary robert m gates shift in defense spending to make tough choices about specific systems and defense priorities based solely on the national interest and then stick to those decisions over time hit boeing especially hard because of their heavy involvement with cancelled air force projects an ethical conduct in may 2003 the u.s air force announced it would lease 100 kc 767 tankers to replace the oldest 136 kilo coulombs -135s in november 2003 responding to critics who argued that the lease was more expensive than an outright purchase the dot announced a revised lease of 20 aircraft and a purchase of 80. in december 2003 the pentagon announced the project was to be frozen while an investigation of allegations of corruption by one of its former procurement staffers darlene druyan was begun the fallout of this resulted in the resignation of boeing ceo philip m condit and the termination of cfo michael m sears harry stonecipher former mcdonnell douglas ceo and boeing co replaced condit on an interim basis druyan pleaded guilty to inflating the price of the contract to favor her future employer and to passing information on the competing airbus a330 mrtt bid in october 2004 she received a sentence of nine months in federal prison seven months in a community facility and three years probation in march 2005 the boeing board forced president and ceo harry stonecipher to resign boeing said an internal investigation revealed a consensual relationship between stonecipher and a female executive that was inconsistent with boeing's code of conduct and would impair his ability to lead the company james a bell served as interim ceo until the appointment of jim mcnerney as the new chairman president and ceo on june 30 2005 industrial espionage in june 2003 lockheed martin sued boeing alleging that the company had resorted to industrial espionage in 1998 to win the evolved expendable launch vehicle competition lockheed martin claimed that the former employee kenneth branch who went to work for mcdonnell douglas and boeing passed nearly 30 000 pages of proprietary documents to his new employers lockheed martin argued that these documents allowed boeing to win 19 of the 28 tendered military satellite launches in july 2003 boeing was penalized with the pentagon stripping seven launches away from the company and awarding them to lockheed martin furthermore the company was forbidden to bid for rocket contracts for a 20-month period which expired in march 2005.
in early september 2005 it was reported that boeing was negotiating a settlement with the u.s department of justice in which it would pay up to 500 million dollars to cover this and the darlene druyan scandal in july 2009 naturalized citizen dongfan chung an engineer working with boeing was the first person convicted under the economic espionage act of 1996 chung is suspected of having passed to china-classified information on designs including the delta iv rocket f-15 eagle b-52 stratofortress and the ch-46 and helicopters 1992 ecus agreement notes until the late 1970s the u.s had a near monopoly in the large civil aircraft sector the airbus consortium started competing effectively in the 1980s at that stage the u.s became concerned about european
competition and the alleged subsidies paid by the european governments for the developments of the early models of the airbus family this became a major issue of contention as the european side was equally concerned by subsidies accruing to uslca manufacturers through nasa and defense programs europe and the u.s started bilateral negotiations for the limitation of government subsidies to the lca sector in the late 1980s negotiations were concluded in 1992 with the signing of the ecus agreement on trade in large civil aircraft which imposes disciplines on government support on both sides of the atlantic which are significantly stricter than the relevant world trade organization rules notably the agreement regulates in detail the forms and limits of government support prescribes transparency obligations and commits the parties to avoiding trade disputes subsidy disputes in 2004. the eu and the u.s agreed to discuss a possible revision of the 1992 ecus agreement provided that this would cover all forms of subsidies including those used in the u.s and in particular the subsidies for the boeing 787 the first new aircraft to be launched by boeing for 14 years in october 2004 the u.s began legal proceedings at the wto by requesting wto consultations on european launch investment to airbus the u.s also unilaterally withdrew from
the 1992 eus agreement the u.s claimed airbus had violated a 1992 bilateral accord when it received what boeing deemed unfair subsidies from several european governments airbus responded by filing a separate complaint contesting that boeing had also violated the accord when it received tax breaks from the u.s government moreover the eu also complained that the investment subsidies from japanese airlines violated the accord on january 11 2005 boeing and airbus agreed that they would attempt to find a solution to the dispute outside of the wto however in june 2005 boeing and the united states government reopened the trade dispute with the wto claiming that airbus had received illegal subsidies from european governments airbus has also responded to this claim against boeing reopening the dispute and also accusing boeing of receiving subsidies from the u.s government
on september 15 2010 the wto ruled that boeing had received billions of dollars in government subsidies boeing responded by stating that the ruling was a fraction of the size of the ruling against airbus and that it required few changes in its operations boeing has received 8.7 billion dollars in support from washington state 2010 to 2016 in summer 2010 boeing acquired fairfax va-based c4isr and combat systems developer argonne street to expand its c4isr cyber and intelligence capabilities in 2011 boeing was hesitating between re-engining the 737 or developing an all-new small airplane for which embrier could have been involved but when the a320 neo was launched with new engines that precipitated the 737-max decision on november 17 boeing received its largest provisional order for 21.7 billion at list prices from indonesian lcc lion air for 201 737 max 29737 errs and 150 purchase rights days after its previous order record of 18 billion dollars for 50777300 er from emirates on january 5 2012 boeing announced it would close its facilities in wichita kansas with 2160 workers before 2014 more than 80 years after it was established where it had employed as many as 40 000 people in may 2013 boeing announced it would cut 1500 i.t jobs in seattle over the next three years through layoffs attrition and mostly relocation to saint louis and north charleston south carolina minus 600 jobs each in september boeing announced their long beach facility manufacturing the c-17 globemaster iii military transport would shut down in january 2014 the company announced 1.23 billion united states dollars profits for q4 2013 a 26 increase due to higher demand for commercial aircraft the last plane to undergo maintenance in boeing wichita's facility left in may 2014.
in september 2014 nasa awarded contracts to boeing and spacex for transporting astronauts to the international space station in june 2015 boeing announced that james mcnerney would step down as ceo to be replaced by boeing's co denis mullenberg on july 1 2015. the 279th and last c-17 was delivered in summer before closing the site affecting 2200 jobs also in 2015 boeing reportedly started the studies of the 797 nma after revealing that a replacement of its own 757 would be a replacement rather than a re-engineer in february 2016 boeing announced that boeing president and ceo dennis mulenberg was elected the tenth chairman of the board succeeding james mcnerney in march boeing announced plans to cut 4000 jobs from its commercial airplane division by mid-year on may 13 2016 boeing opened a 1 billion 27-acre factory in washington state that will make carbon composite wings for the boeing 777x to be delivered from 2020 c-series dumping petition on the 28th of april 2016. bombardier aerospace recorded a firm order from delta airlines for 75 c series cs 100s 50 options on the 27th of april 2017 boeing filed a petition for dumping them at 19.6 million dollars each below their 33.2 million production cost on the 9th of june 2017 the u.s
international trade commission found that the u.s industry could be threatened on the 26th of september the u.s department of commerce observed subsidies of 220 and intended to collect deposits accordingly plus a preliminary 80 anti-dumping duty resulting in a duty of 300 percent the doc announced its final ruling a total duty of 292 on the 20th of december on the 10th of january 2018 the canadian government filed a complaint at the world trade organization against the u.s on the 26th of january 2018 the four usitc commissioners unanimously determined that u.s industry is not
threatened and no duty orders will be issued overturning the imposed duties the commission public report was made available by february 2018. on march 22 boeing declined to appeal the ruling while the usitc had determined there was no threat the ruling came too late for bombardier as the dumping petition by boeing had already paved the way for bombardier to relinquish a controlling interest in the c-series to airbus in october 2017. 2017 present in october 2017 boeing announced plans to acquire aurora flight sciences to expand its capabilities to develop autonomous electric-powered and long-flight duration aircraft for its commercial and military businesses pending regulatory approval in 2017 boeing won 912 net orders for 134.8 billion at list prices including
745 737s 94787s and 60777s and delivered 763 airliners including 529732 136787s and 74777s in january 2018 a joint venture was formed by auto seat maker adiant and boeing to develop and manufacture airliner seats for new installations or retrofit a 4.5 billion market in 2017 which will grow to 6 billion by 2026 to be based in kaiserslautern near frankfurt and distributed by boeing subsidiary avial with its customer service center in seattle on june 4 2018 boeing and safran announced a 50-50 partnership to design build and service auxiliary power units after regulatory and anti-trust clearance in the second half of 2018. this could threaten the dominance of honeywell and united technologies in the apu market at a june 2018 aiaa conference boeing unveiled a hypersonic transport project on july 5 2018 boeing and embryo announced a joint venture covering embryos airliner business this is seen as a reaction to airbus acquiring a majority of the competing bombardier c series on october 16 2017. in september 2018 boeing signed a deal with the pentagon worth up to 2.4 billion to provide helicopters for protecting nuclear missile bases boeing acquired the satellite company millennium space system in september 2018. on march 10 2019 an ethiopian airlines boeing 737-max-8 crashed just minutes after takeoff from addis ababa initial reports noted similarities with the crash of alliant air max 8 in october 2018 in the following days numerous countries and airlines grounded all 737 max aircraft on march 13 the faa became the last major authority to ground the aircraft reversing its previous stance that the max was safe to fly on march 19 the u.s department of
transportation requested an audit of the regulatory process that led to the aircraft certification in 2017. amid concerns that current u.s rules allow manufacturers to largely self-certify aircraft during march 2019 boeing share price dropped significantly in may 2019 boeing admitted that it had known of issues with the 737 max before the second crash and only informed the federal aviation authority of the software issue a month after the lion air crash on april 23 2019 the wall street journal reported that boeing ssl and aerospace company the carlyle group had been helping the chinese people's liberation army enable its mass surveillance on ethnic groups such as the uyghur muslims in the xinjiang autonomous region in northwestern china as well as giving a high-speed internet access to the artificial islands in the south china sea among others through the use of new satellites the companies have been selling the new satellites to a chinese company called asia sat which is a joint venture between the carlyle group and the chinese state-owned citic which then sells space on these satellites to chinese companies the company stated that they never specifically intended for their technology to be used by china's ministry of public security and the police on july 18 2019 when presenting its second quarter results boeing announced that it had recorded a 4.9 billion after tax charge corresponding to its initial estimate of the cost of compensation to airlines for the 737 max groundings but not the cost of lawsuits potential fines or the less tangible cost to its reputation it also noted a 1.7 billion rise in estimated max production costs primarily due to higher costs associated with the reduced production rate on november 18 2019 boeing and embryo announced a joint venture to market the c390 millennium tactical transport aircraft called boeing embryo defense to operate after the regulatory approvals and closing conditions the joint ventures with embryo for commercial and military aircraft were both cancelled in april 2020 as boeing was heavily affected financially by the grounding of the 737 max and the impact of the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic on aviation boeing claimed that embryo had failed to meet required conditions by april 24 while embrier accused boeing of manufacturing false claims in order to avoid its commitments and stated that it would pursue all remedies against boeing for the damages incurred the master teaming agreement for marketing of the c390 continued though the prospects of international sales facilitated by boeing diminished in late april 2020 due to the 737 max grounding boeing left behind studies for the new mid-sized airplane 797 in favor of refreshments of its geriatrics 757 and 767 alternatively called the 757 plus and 767x in may 2020 the company cut 12 000 jobs due to the drop in air travel during the kovad-19 pandemic in july 2020 boeing reported a loss of 2.4 billion as a result of the pandemic and grounding of the 737 max aircraft as a result of the profit loss the company announced that it is planning to do more job and production cuts future concepts in may 2006 four concept designs being examined by boeing were outlined in the seattle times based on corporate internal documents the research aims in two directions low-cost airplanes and environmental-friendly planes codenamed after some of the muppets characters a design team known as the green team concentrated primarily on reducing fuel usage all four designs illustrated rear engine layouts fawzi employs open rotors and offers a lower cruising speed beaker has very thin long wings with the ability to partially fold up to facilitate easier taxiing kermit cruiser has forward-swept wings over which are positioned its engines with the aim of lowering noise below due to the reflection of the exhaust signature upward honeydew with its delta wing design resembles a marriage of the flying wing concept and the traditional tube fuselage as with most concepts these designs are only in the exploratory stage intended to help boeing evaluate the potentials of such radical technologies in 2015 boeing patented its own force-field technology also known as the shockwave attenuation system that would protect vehicles from shockwaves generated by nearby explosions boeing has yet to confirm when they plan to build and test the technology the boeing yellowstone project is the company's project to replace its entire civil aircraft portfolio with advanced technology aircraft new technologies to be introduced include composite aerostructures more electrical systems and more fuel-efficient turbofan engines such as the pratt and whitney pw1000g geared turbofan general electric genx the cfm international leap56 and the rolls-royce trent 1000 the term yellowstone refers to the technologies while y-1 through y-3 refer to the actual aircraft
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