The Boeing Co. turns 100 today.
It began as Pacific Aero Products Co. in Seattle on July 15, 1916. Its early expertise was in pontoons for seaplanes. Founder William Boeing soon renamed the company the Boeing Airplane Co.
He drew on his fortune made in the lumber industry to keep the company afloat through early lean years. From the beginning, he instilled in it an enduring focus on innovation and superior engineering.
“Our job is to keep everlastingly at research and experiment, to adapt our laboratory results and those of other laboratories to production as soon as practicable, to let no new improvement in flying equipment and flying pass us by,” Boeing said.
With a mix of skill, sweat and a bit of good luck, the Boeing Co. has outlasted nearly all its competitors. It’s evolved from making cloth-covered aircraft to composite material jets.
Boeing introduced the first modern airliner in 1933. Fleets of Boeing bombers brought destruction to German and Japanese cities and industries in World War II. The company pioneered big jet planes after the war. Boeing jets have shrunk the world, connecting distant destinations. It helped humans explore the moon and space.
Around Puget Sound, generations of families bought homes, put kids through college and enjoyed comfortable, middle-class lives on Boeing paychecks. And Boeing employees’ sweat and dedication fueled the company’s success and helped deliver healthy dividends to shareholders year after year. Boeing’s fortunes can cast sunshine or shadows on the region’s economy.
Few companies have done more to shape the past 100 years.
And few are better poised to shape the next 100 years.
Dan Catchpole: 425-339-3454; dcatchpole@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @dcatchpole.
The Boeing Century
Read the Daily Herald’s special report, The Boeing Century, online at http://goo.gl/gxLx3l.
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