In today's world, there are two major aircraft manufacturers, one is the European Airbus, and the other is the American Boeing Company. Boeing is the pearl of American manufacturing. Its business scope covers helicopters, tilt-rotor aircraft, military fixed-wing aircraft, air combat weapons, avionics equipment, and even spacecraft.
Boeing's 737 aircraft is a short- and medium-range narrow-body civil aviation airliner that is widely used around the world. The Boeing 747 has long occupied the top spot as the world's largest long-range wide-body civil aviation airliner since its introduction. It was not replaced by the Airbus A380 until 2008. . Even the US President's special travel plane "Air Force One" is modified from the Boeing 707HT4 and Boeing 747-200B special models produced by the company.
Although Boeing's operating income is not dazzling, its operating income in fiscal year 2021 is US$62.286 billion, while the US GDP in 2021 is US$23.039 trillion, and Boeing's turnover only accounts for 0.27% of the total US GDP. However, aircraft manufacturing is currently one of the top manufacturing industries in the world, covering a wide range of industries and disciplines, such as dynamics, machinery, information technology, materials science, etc. Therefore, aircraft manufacturing can not only promote GDP growth, but also greatly enhance a country's technological strength. It is no exaggeration to say that the United States can live without Apple, but it cannot live without Boeing. The originator of
old Boeing was born in Westphalia, Prussia in 1846. He had not had enough to eat since he was a child, and his family worked in the mines to make a living. In 1866, Prussian Iron-blooded Prime Minister Bismarck launched the -Austro-Prussian War, and the 20-year-old Boeing was forced to join the army. The tragedy of the war made Old Boeing plan to immigrate. He traveled across the ocean and ran to Detroit in the United States, where he lived with a German immigrant family. Karl, the owner of a local lumberyard, saw that the old Boeing was hard-working, willing to endure hardships, and had a good reputation among the neighbors, so he married his daughter Mary to him. After five years of struggle, the old Boeing completed the accumulation of original capital and engaged in the hugely profitable timber, iron ore and land sales business. Mary gave birth to two children, William Edward Boeing and Caroline Edward Boeing. In 1890, while on a business trip to New York, Old Boeing was infected with influenza and died on the long train back to Detroit.
William Edward Boeing (hereinafter referred to as Boeing) was only 9 years old when the old Boeing died. The family lost its backbone, and Mary remarried a Virginia doctor. Due to a disagreement with his stepfather, Boeing was sent to a boarding school in Switzerland, the Selig Brothers School. With the help of his uncle, Boeing was admitted to the Engineering Department of Yale University's Sheffield School of Science in 1900. The United States was prosperous at that time, and a large number of new houses and businesses were built, requiring a large amount of wood. As a sophomore, Boeing decided to drop out of school and went to Washington State to start his father's lumber business. Since Boeing himself was very interested in airplanes, he was determined to learn the scientific knowledge of this emerging field of aviation.
Boeing got to know Hewitt because of the connections his father had accumulated. With Hewitt's help, Boeing established the Greenwood Lumber Company and the Boeing McCrimmon Company. Not long after the company was founded, Boeing hooked up with George from Willhauser. Willhauser Corporation is a forest products company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, USA. Boeing soon reached a land deal with Willhauser Company and made its first pot of gold.
In 1910, Boeing and his friends went to Southern California to witness the first international aviation conference in the United States held in Dominguez Mountain. After seeing the plane soaring in the sky, Boeing was excited and met French pilot Louis Paulhan. After the air show, Boeing wanted to invite Paul Han, but he declined. When he joined the college club in Seattle, he met George Conrad Westervelt, who was one year older than him and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. The two bachelors quickly became friends and found a shared passion for flying.
In 1915, the seaplane flight experience was held on Lake Union, and Boeing and Wilt lined up to wait for the flight experience flight.Boeing went to the "Glenn L. Martin" flight school in Los Angeles (Martin would later be Lockheed Martin) and purchased an "M-TA" aircraft. With the help of money, Martin assembled airplanes for Boeing in Seattle and sent pilots to teach flying skills. In 1915, World War I broke out. Although the United States was not threatened, people of insight advocated "preparing in advance." On August 24, 19 members of the University Club established the Northwest Aviation Club, with Boeing as the first president.
In 1916, Boeing and Wilt co-founded the "B&W" company. The company's name was taken from the combination of the initial letters "B" and "W" of their last names. Through his own network, Wilt searched every manufacturer and finally chose "Ed Heath" on the Duwamish River to build airplanes for Boeing.
In June of the same year, their first aircraft officially rolled off the production line, named Blue Eagle (Bluebill). On June 29, Boeing personally piloted the Blue Eagle and made its first successful flight. Eventually, Boeing sold the 'Bluebill' and its sister aircraft 'Mallard' to the New Zealand Flying School in Auckland.
On July 15, 1916, Boeing merged its aircraft manufacturing operations into "Pacific Aeronautical Products Company". In the same year, the U.S. Navy dispatched Wilt to the East Coast to perform tasks. Although Wilt withdrew from Pacific Aviation Products, his contacts were still there. On April 18, 1917, the company was officially renamed "Boeing Aircraft Company". The company's registered employees were 28, including pilots, shipbuilders, seamstresses and engineers.
In February 1917, engineer Wang Zhu, who had a master's degree in aeronautical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, joined Boeing on the recommendation of U.S. Navy Captain Engineer George Westford and became the first engineer hired by Boeing. As soon as Wang Zhu arrived at the company, he successfully solved the problem of insufficient power of B&W aircraft during takeoff and landing, and named the newly designed aircraft Model C.
In 1917, when the United States entered World War I, Boeing was keenly aware that the U.S. Navy needed seaplanes for training flight instructors. Relying on Wirth's network, Boeing transported two Model C aircraft designed by Wang Assistant to Pensacola, Florida for demonstration for the Navy. As a result, it successfully obtained an order for 50 aircraft, which was definitely a huge order at the time. It laid the foundation for Boeing's future development and growth.
Boeing crossover
After the First World War, the demand for military aircraft was greatly reduced, and Boeing was in trouble. At the end of 1919, the company had only 67 employees. In order to survive, Boeing began to transform into manufacturing furniture and yachts to survive. In 1921, Boeing won another Navy contract. The U.S. Army and Navy purchased fighter jets P12 and F4B from Boeing respectively, purchasing a total of 586 aircraft of this series.
In 1925, the U.S. Congress abandoned the post office's mail delivery business. At that time, the boss of Hubbard Air Transport Company persuaded Boeing to jointly form a new airline called "Boeing Air Transport Company" to bid for Congress's postal service. To meet the needs of the new business, Boeing and his engineers developed an extremely versatile and popular aircraft called the "Boeing Model 40 Biplane Transport Aircraft", which can carry 540 kilograms of mail and has 2 miniature sheets in the middle. The cabin seats can accommodate 2 passengers who want to experience aviation.
On July 27, 1928, the 12-seat biplane Boeing Model 80 made its first flight successfully. The three-engine aircraft is Boeing's first purpose-built passenger aircraft. The improved Boeing 80A, which could carry 18 passengers, made its first flight in September 1929. In 1930, in order to provide passengers with a better flight experience, Boeing hired eight unmarried young nurses to serve as cabin services and first aid personnel. The imaginary profession of "stewardess" was born. By the end of 1928, Boeing Air Transport occupied 30% of the U.S. air mail and air passenger markets.
In 1933, Boeing launched the Boeing Model 247, an all-metal low-wing twin-engine passenger aircraft with a streamlined appearance, for the first time at the Chicago World's Fair, which was hailed as "the first modern passenger aircraft." The Boeing 247 has variable pitch propellers, control surface trim tabs, retractable landing gear and a soundproof cabin. Its flight speed is even higher than that of a three-engine airliner. It can maintain flight with one engine. The only fault is the passenger capacity. Too little.
In the face of critical changes
In the same year of 1933, the U.S. government found out that Boeing Company had monopolistic, fraudulent and illegal behaviors in the aviation industry during the antitrust action. During the reorganization, it became very rich by exchanging stocks with the holding company. It only took 3 years. Just made 12 million US dollars (legal and illegal). After being investigated, Boeing was furious and sold all the aviation stocks in his name. From then on, he retired, invested in real estate, and was involved in Wall Street and horse racing. Except for serving as a consultant during World War II, he no longer participated in the company's affairs. Following Boeing's resignation, Boeing production manager Phil Johnson was named the new executive.
In 1934, the United States introduced the Air Mail Act, which prohibited a company from both manufacturing aircraft and engaging in air transportation. So Boeing United Airlines was split into three parts. The western production line belonged to Boeing Aircraft Company, the eastern production line belonged to United Aircraft Company (later changed to United Technologies Corporation), and the aviation business belonged to United Airlines.
The founder left, the company was split up, and Boeing was in a difficult situation. The house leak coincided with the continuous rain, and competitor Douglas's DC-3 was born. DC-3 can carry 21 passengers, and its comfortable cabin environment has successively won Boeing's market orders. In desperation, Johnson decided to lead the company's transformation and focus on aircraft manufacturing.
In 1935, Boeing began to develop the 307 Stratospheric Airliner, which was the first commercial transport aircraft with a cabin pressurization system. It could cruise at an altitude of 6,000 meters, avoid many weather disturbances, and could carry 5 crew members and 33 passengers. travelers. The Boeing 307 made its first successful flight in 1938.
In 1941, the United States officially entered the war, and the iterative B-17 bomber designed by Boeing became the first choice. In a coordinated effort across the United States, the B-17 was produced simultaneously at Boeing, Douglas Aircraft Company, and Lockheed aircraft factories. Men went to war and women entered factories by the thousands. U.S. aircraft production increased from 60 aircraft per month in 1942 to 362 aircraft per month in March 1944.
At the request of the military, Boeing began to develop the "B-29 Superfortress bomber" in 1942. In August 1945, two B-29 bombers named Enola Gay and Boxcar dropped atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan respectively. In 1945, Boeing President Phil Johnson Died unexpectedly during the war. Lead attorney William M. Allen takes over as the firm's new president.
Killing all directions
In World War II, in order to win, all countries exhausted all available resources to develop and manufacture the best piston aeroengine , but the ceiling of aircraft power is getting closer and closer to the limit. In the late World War II, the jet engine appeared. It has a simple structure, is easy to manufacture, and has high reliability. It immediately attracted the attention of the military. Boeing was selling mainly military aircraft at the time, and its commercial products trailed those of rivals Douglas and Lockheed.
From 1946 to 1948, the military successively canceled orders for bombers and helicopters. A large number of Boeing workers lost their jobs and the factory was forced to close. In 1949, the prototype of the world's first commercial jet airliner, the Comet, made its first successful flight in the UK. Boeing bit the bullet and transformed the B-29 "Superfortress" bomber that dropped the atomic bomb into a passenger aircraft, the B377, using an old-fashioned piston aero engine. The interior of Boeing 367 is unprecedentedly luxurious. The upper floor can be equipped with sleepers to relieve the fatigue of long-distance air travel; the lower floor is a bar for passengers to relax in the air. There are spiral staircases and connections up and down.But the Boeing 377 was just a make-up. Only 56 units were produced in total. Production was discontinued in 1950 and retired in 1963.
During this period, Boeing actively participated in the research and development of the US Air Force's jet strategic bomber, and developed the B-47 bomber based on wind tunnel data captured from Germany. The B-47 was the first large jet bomber to feature swept wings and underwing engines. Based on the B-47, Boeing further designed the B-52 strategic bomber with eight jet engines . The B-52 is still the main force of the U.S. Air Force's long-range conventional bombing and maritime attacks.
After the B-52 bomber project made money, Boeing used the profits as research and development funds for the new passenger aircraft. Engineers combined the fuselage of a C-97 transport aircraft with the engines of a B-47 bomber to create the first prototype of the future jet airliner, designated the B367-80. May 15, 1954, 367-80 The prototype was unveiled to the world for the first time in Renton. On July 19, 1954, the B367-80 made its first flight successfully. To increase the appearance, Boeing painted the aircraft yellow and brown and obtained the registration number N70700.
Originally the B367-80 was positioned as a tanker or a prototype of a military transport aircraft , and did not directly target the civilian market. Perhaps because the 377 project has not received many civilian orders, it wants to make more money from US military orders. In June of the same year, the U.S. Air Force launched a public tender to seek design proposals for tanker aircraft. Both Douglas and Lockheed bid, with Boeing winning the tanker proposal. At the request of the military, the B367-80 was enlarged and turned into a tanker and a military transport aircraft, which later became KC-135 and C-135.
On August 7, 1955, the B367-80 demonstrator was made public to the public for the first time in a seaplane race held on Lake Washington outside Seattle. Boeing originally planned to let the 367-80 make a low-altitude pass, allowing nearly 200,000 spectators to watch this latest jetliner up close. However, Boeing test pilot Evan Johnston did not perform it faithfully. He actually performed a barrel roll at an altitude of 150 meters above the ground, fully demonstrating the excellent maneuverability of this 4-engine jetliner.
Everyone at the scene was stunned. William M. Allen, the president of Boeing at the time, almost had a heart attack on the ground. The barrel roll caused a sensation. The overwhelming media reports quickly increased the popularity of the aircraft. Airlines were impressed by its flight performance. The pilot Johnston was not held accountable because he said that he did so. To sell planes better. But this incident still cast a shadow on Boeing's top management. Nearly 40 years later, in 1994, when the Boeing 777 was preparing for its first flight, the president of Boeing specifically warned the test pilot before takeoff: "No barrel roll allowed."
Boeing 707
After receiving money from the US military, Allen made a comeback in civil aviation . In 1955, the big brother in the civil aviation market was still Douglas. They were developing the DC-8, a large jet airliner with a fuselage width of 147 inches, which could accommodate a "3+3" cabin layout, that is, there are two cabins on both sides of the cabin aisle. 3 seats. Boeing's original design was to design a "2+3" cabin (5 seats in each row) for the Boeing 367-80 with a fuselage width of 132 inches (1 inch = 2.54 cm). Boeing, which had money, decided to By increasing the body width of our company's products to 148 inches, we are on par with our competitors.
On December 20, 1957, the B707 passenger aircraft developed from the B367-80 successfully made a test flight and was put into airline service the following year. This aircraft, which can carry 189 passengers, has changed the global transportation industry. The Boeing 707 is listed as the first generation of jet airliners together with the British de Havilland Comet, the French Clipper, and the Soviet Tu-104 passenger aircraft. The 4-engine 156-seat B707 has huge advantages, making Boeing quickly become the leading jetliner manufacturer. In the same year, Pan Am Airways, a loyal customer of Douglas, was the first to order the Boeing 707, which was a huge blow to Douglas.
In 1961, John F. Kennedy became the youngest elected president in the history of the United States. The following year, the presidential plane "Air Force One" was replaced with a Boeing 707 that had been specially modified to extend its range, called the "Special Air Mission (SAM)". )26000". In 1963, Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. Vice President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as president on this plane; then, this plane was responsible for transporting Kennedy's coffin back to the capital, Washington. In 1972, President Richard Nixon also arrived in Beijing on this plane. With the great success and profitability of the Boeing 707, Boeing devoted more of its resources to the development of many other passenger aircraft models, with the tradition of naming them in the form of the 7X7.
Airbus, a powerful rival
Although Britain developed the world's first jet airliner, the De Havilland "Comet", and France developed the world's first twin-engine jet airliner, the "Clipper", The powerful Americans still quickly caught up with Europe. In December 1960, Boeing announced the 143-seat 727 passenger aircraft plan. Three years later, this passenger aircraft was put into operation. Boeing 727 is a counterattack to the French "Clipper" passenger aircraft. The three engines are installed on the rear fuselage. This layout ensures a simple wing design and can also reduce cabin noise. The 727 became the first passenger aircraft in the world to reach 1,000 sales, eventually selling 1,500, and developed passenger, cargo and passenger and cargo models.
Boeing is pursuing the victory and developing its own narrow-body passenger aircraft Boeing 737. The earliest design of the Boeing 737 had one less engine than the Boeing 727. It used a T-shaped tail and the engine was placed at the tail. After a series of tests, in order to match the main wing configuration and sweep angle of the 737 performance, engineers decided to move the engine under the wing and use a traditional tail wing. This change has become the most economical layout method for today's twin-engine passenger aircraft.
After receiving confirmation from Boeing that it would definitely develop the Boeing 737-100, Lufthansa became the first customer to place an order for a Boeing 737 on February 19, 1965, making the 737 the first non-domestic aircraft in Boeing history. New aircraft models launched based on airline orders. In 1970, Boeing sold only 37 737s. Due to financial pressure at the time, Boeing once planned to close the 737 production line and sell the 737 design to the Japanese. Fortunately, Boeing chose to discontinue its plan for supersonic aircraft at that time. At the same time, the success of the 747 project also gave the company enough funds to maintain the 737 production line, and thus the legend of the 737 was born.
The U.S. aviation industry is making frequent moves, and Europeans are also aware that without cooperation, the gap in civil aircraft manufacturing between Europe and the United States will only grow wider. The Boeing 707 has made transoceanic travel possible in hours, but people still find it slow and urgently need a supersonic passenger aircraft . Although everyone knows that developing a supersonic passenger aircraft requires a lot of manpower, material and financial resources, aviation experts from the United States, Europe or the Soviet Union have no doubt that supersonic passenger aircraft must be the future development direction.
In order to surpass the Soviet Union and the United States in the field of civilian passenger aircraft manufacturing, achieve cornering overtaking through supersonic passenger aircraft, and share research and development funds and risks, the United Kingdom and France began to jointly develop new passenger aircraft. On March 2, 1969, Concorde No. 1 took off in Toulouse, stunning the world. On June 17, 1974, an Air France Concorde flew from Boston to Paris. At the same time, Air France arranged for a Boeing 747 to depart from Paris to Boston. When Concorde arrived in Paris and completed the stopover before returning to Boston 11 minutes later, the Boeing 747 arrived belatedly.
However, a Boeing 707 can carry 4 times the number of passengers as Concorde. Compared with the growing demand for civil aviation transportation, Concorde’s transportation capacity is already insufficient; compared with Concorde’s 2+2 layout, the advantages of Boeing 747 are more obvious, 3 The +4+3 layout is very open. The flight operation cost of subsonic will be much lower than that of Concorde, and it can also be converted into a cargo aircraft. Europeans are keenly aware that the supersonic Concorde is ultimately only a choice for the rich. Europe also needs to develop a subsonic wide-body aircraft to cope with the impact of the Boeing 747.
France and the United Kingdom each have plans to develop 200-seat aircraft, but they do not have an advantage over the Boeing 707, and they have no advantage over the 400-seat B747. In July 1967, the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom reached a consensus to jointly develop the European aviation industry. On July 26, 1868, France, Britain and Germany reached an agreement and decided to establish Airbus to jointly produce wide-body passenger aircraft with a capacity of 300 seats.
Later, the United Kingdom withdrew from the plan to jointly develop aircraft. The French Minister of Transport and the West German Finance Minister still signed an agreement at the Paris Air Show on May 29, 1969, officially launching the A300 program. Airbus signed the document. Form is born. However, the most dazzling stars at the Paris Air Show in 1969 were the B747 and Concorde. Airbus did not attract the attention of the international community at that time.
Concorde and Soviet Tu-144 are two supersonic passenger aircraft that have truly entered commercial operation. Boeing began to demonstrate supersonic passenger aircraft in 1952, and established a preparatory committee in 1958, with project code 733. In 1963, the Kennedy administration decided to inject capital into the supersonic passenger aircraft program, promising that the country would bear 75% of the development costs. Concorde set the speed at Mach 2.02. The technical indicators drawn up by the U.S. government were to carry 250 passengers, fly at a speed of Mach 2.7-3.0 (about 3,000 kilometers per hour), and need to reach an intercontinental range of 7,200 kilometers (4,500 miles) (U.S. version Great Leap Forward).
The aircraft needs to reach Mach 3 flight speed, which means that it needs to find stronger skin materials. The options are titanium alloy for the Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft and stainless steel for the MiG-25. Titanium alloys are too expensive and are mainly produced in the Soviet Union. Stainless steel is very heavy and the materials are not ideal. The United States is a major aviation country, and Boeing is not the only one to make supersonic passenger aircraft. But the U.S. government can only fund one project, so you bid on it yourself.
The Boeing 733 project derived two models, renamed 1966 and 2707 respectively. Among them, 2707 were selected. Boeing has invested heavily in this project, but research progress has been extremely slow. Encountering technical bottlenecks and unclear market demand, this project is a bottomless pit. In 1972, the U.S. Congress decided to stop further investment in the 2707 project. Boeing, which invested a huge amount of talent and money, almost fell into trouble. Then Thornton Wilson was appointed as the new CEO to lead Boeing out of the predicament. Faced with looming disaster, Wilson cut staff from 80,400 to 37,200 between early 1970 and October 1971.
Fortunately, there is still a failed project. Boeing failed in the competition for a large military transport aircraft. It lost to Lockheed Martin's C-5A "Galaxy" and directly changed the bidding plan to the large intercontinental passenger aircraft Boeing later became famous in the world. 747.
In 1965, in addition to relatively small projects such as the B737 and 727 extended models, Boeing had three major projects at the same time: the supersonic transport aircraft, the Apollo mission package and the development of the B747. Among the three projects, B747 is at the lowest position. With limited internal resources, B747 is in a very difficult situation regardless of human or financial resources, or even the working environment and conditions.
However, 747 finally turned defeat into victory. One of the reasons for its success is the large bypass ratio turbofan engine. Pratt & Whitney undertook this task and overcame many difficulties to increase the thrust of a single engine from less than 16,000 pounds for the 707 engine to 40,000 pounds in one fell swoop. Before the advent of the A380, the Boeing 747 was the world's largest passenger aircraft and the world's first mass-produced wide-body civil aircraft.
On the other side, Airbus is "stunted". Due to the rising R&D costs of Concorde, after the British company Rolls-Royce announced that it would no longer consider developing engines specifically for the A300 project, the British government announced that it would withdraw from the project, and the Airbus A300 project was about to become obsolete. The Germans Franz Joseph Strauss, chairman of the supervisory board, and Henry Ziegler, technical director, stepped forward. The former announced that Germany would increase investment to 50%, in line with France, and tried to dispel France's hesitant concerns; the latter requested the French government to continue investing on the grounds that the cancellation of the project would lead to the unemployment of a large number of French skilled workers.
During the most difficult time for Airbus, the British company Hawke, which developed the Trident passenger aircraft, did not withdraw from the project with the British government. Instead, it spent its own money to transform the production line and improve the process to prepare for the manufacturing of the A300 wings. In October 1972, the Airbus A300B took off and completed its first flight amidst everyone's expectations. It was the world's first twin-engine wide-body passenger aircraft.
Airlines were initially unwilling to purchase twin-engine wide-body aircraft; coupled with market protection and other factors, Airbus was unable to open up the lucrative U.S. market. When Airbus was in the most difficult situation, it once cooperated with Eastern Airlines, which was in poor financial condition. Let it use four A300B4 aircraft for free for half a year. Use it first and then talk about it, use it first and then buy it.
Both the French and German governments can’t stand it. This is simply raising a chicken that can’t lay eggs. Fortunately, Airbus executives withstood the pressure and refused to shut down the production line. At that time, the biggest competitor of the A300 series, McDonnell Douglas's DC-10, caused constant accidents due to design flaws in the cargo door. At first, McDonnell Douglas did not pay attention to it and did not repair the defects. It was not until later that an accident occurred and a fatality occurred, which eventually led to the grounding of the aircraft. Moreover, due to the war in the Middle East and the rising oil prices, the twin-engine A300 series wide-body aircraft have natural economic advantages over the three- and four-engine wide-body passenger aircraft developed by American companies. Airbus finally opens up the U.S. and international markets.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, with the outbreak of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the Iran-Iraq War, the second oil crisis was triggered, which further triggered a comprehensive recession in the Western economy and led to the shrinkage of the aviation industry. The demand for long-range wide-body aircraft decreased sharply. Europe turned its attention to the development of single-aisle narrow-body passenger aircraft and launched the "Jet European Transport" project, which later evolved into the A320. The A300 series is aimed at the market gap between the B707 and B747, and is the first time Airbus has challenged Boeing head-on. The successful development of the A320 not only broke the monopoly of the single-aisle aircraft market by Boeing, but also truly established Airbus's leading position in the industry. In 1991, Airbus finally ushered in a moment of product profitability. In 2019, Airbus will surpass its old rival Boeing and become the world's largest aircraft manufacturer with the delivery of 863 passenger aircraft.
Boeing's stagnation
Since the late 1970s, with the support of the Carter and Reagan administrations, the aviation industry, which has long been subject to government control, has been loosened, entry barriers have been lowered, and price controls have been relaxed, giving rise to the A slew of new airlines. The price war among airlines has become increasingly fierce. As a result, they can no longer pass on the cost of purchasing aircraft to passengers through fares as in the past. They require upstream aircraft manufacturers to reduce costs. Boeing can no longer develop a new aircraft regardless of cost as it did in the past. Coupled with the head-on challenge from Airbus, Boeing is increasingly focusing on costs and profits.
In 1986, Frank Schlonz was promoted to CEO of Boeing. From December 1988 to March 1989, four fatal air crashes occurred in just three months, and the 747-400 experienced production delays in the same year. Boeing stock plummeted. In 1990, the commercial aviation industry was in another downturn, with orders for all aircraft worldwide falling from 1,662 in 1989 to 439 in 1991. Airbus, which is funded by EU , has also started a price war. The Cold War is gradually ending, and the Pentagon's spending on military systems has also dropped sharply, hitting Boeing's defense department and a large number of orders have been cancelled. In response to the crisis, Frank began laying off employees. From 1989 to 1993, Boeing's workforce decreased every year, with a total loss of 40,000 jobs.
In 1993, the United States launched the free space station plan again. NASA named Boeing as the main contractor of the International Space Station. This is called the largest international science and technology project in history, giving Boeing a big blow. In December 1996, Boeing acquired the aerospace and defense assets of Rockwell International for $3.2 billion.
Phil Condit, a former engineer, became Boeing's president, board member, and CEO in 1996. As soon as he took office, he said: “Boeing’s top priority is no longer to manufacture new aircraft that are ahead of the industry.Today, our task is to strive to create a development environment based on stable stock prices. This is a huge change. "
In August 1997, Boeing acquired McDonnell Douglas Corporation ("McDonnell Douglas") for US$13.3 billion. At that time, Boeing was already the dominant player in the global aviation industry, with a market share of 60% in the field of civil aircraft. The main focus lies in the military business. McDonnell Douglas was once the largest military aircraft manufacturing company in the United States. About 70% of the company's profits came from the military sector. The famous F-4 "Phantom", F-15 "Eagle", C-17 military transport aircraft, The DC series and MD series commercial aircraft are produced by this company. This transaction seems to be a "compensation for weaknesses". In November 1996, in the bidding for the United States' new generation fighter aircraft "Joint Strike Fighter (JFS)", the US Department of Defense announced that it would Choosing from two sworn enemies, Lockheed Martin and Boeing, McDonnell Douglas failed to win in the two major military and civilian markets. McDonnell Douglas chose to "sell" Boeing's executive team after the merger, including 7 people from Boeing. At McDonnell Douglas, 10 are professional managers, and only one is from the original Boeing. Phil Condit, the original Boeing, serves as the new Boeing CEO and is mainly responsible for the company's strategic planning; Harry Stonecipher from McDonnell Douglas serves as president and CEO. COO, responsible for daily operations.
Before the merger with McDonnell Douglas, Boeing employees tended to regard the company as a "big family" composed of a large group of engineers who could talk to each other on an equal footing. However, Harry and other McDonnell Douglas executives were too strong. After the merger, Boeing management announced that it would reduce the production scale of McDonnell Douglas's two civilian models MD80/90, and at the same time carry out drastic layoffs. The plan at that time was to The move in 1998 to cut 12,000 jobs in the civil aircraft division sparked dissatisfaction among employees that peaked in 2000 and led to a 40-day general strike. "Boeing people" took to the streets of Seattle. In addition to complaining that the income was not as good as that of upstart Internet companies such as Amazon, they also vented their anger on Harry, feeling that he and other executives from McDonnell Douglas had changed Boeing's family-like working atmosphere.
2001 In 2016, Boeing made a bolder decision and moved its headquarters from Seattle to Chicago. Chicago is located in the central and eastern United States with a developed transportation network. It is the headquarters of United Airlines, Boeing's major customer, and is more than 2,000 kilometers away from the Seattle factory and from Washington and Washington. New York is only an hour's flight away, making it easier for Boeing executives to lobby the Pentagon and win the favor of Wall Street.
Many McDonnell Douglas executives have worked at GE. After joining Boeing, they promoted shareholder profit maximization internally. Strategies include large-scale stock repurchases (in addition to cash dividends) and outsourcing of large-scale production processes. In the second year of the merger with McDonnell Douglas (August 1998), Boeing announced a round of stock repurchase plans, reaching a scale of outstanding shares. 15%. Based on the stock price at the time, these shares were worth approximately US$4.5 billion, exceeding Boeing's total net profit for two consecutive years. In the six years from the first quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2019, Boeing's cash dividends totaled US$17.4 billion, equivalent to 42% of total profits during the same period. During this six-year cycle, Boeing's cumulative R&D investment in commercial aircraft was US$14.1 billion, which was only 30% of the scale of stock repurchases. It was less than dividends for consecutive years, and the average annual expenditure was approximately US$2.36 billion.
In 2003, Phil Condit resigned due to financial scandals. Harry Stonecipher, the former CEO of McDonnell Douglas, succeeded him and became Boeing's new generation CEO. He continued Condit's approach of focusing on stock prices and profits. The wealth Harry left to Boeing was the story of his future resignation due to scandals, and the nickname "Harry who only cares about the present." There is a famous passage about Harry, after he once read the financial report: "Our income is not even as good as Coca-Cola, which is really uncomfortable." Boeing's director of new models is no longer an engineer-turned-scientist. They are all top MBA students.
Boeing's creed used to be, "Just go ahead and forget the cost! Just take care of the quality."A manager in charge of internal quality control said that each manufacturing link now has a quality manager, but before, "we had 15." The seemingly rigid rules and regulations have also created one legendary aircraft after another that shines in the annals of history. For example, the Boeing 70 was the world's first successful commercial jet; in the 1960s, when there were only narrow-body airliners in the world, Boeing devoted all its efforts to build the first 747 wide-body airliner, which became an unparalleled aerial vehicle. "Big Mac"; In the 1990s, Boeing once again invested all its wealth to build the world's largest twin-engine wide-body passenger aircraft, the 777, which also achieved great success.
Boeing in the "post-Boeing era" is busy making money and neglecting research and development. In early 2011, Boeing's then-CEO Jim McNerney received a call from American Airlines, saying that it was considering abandoning Boeing and signing a contract with competitor Airbus. In September 2014, Airbus successfully launched the A320NEO model. Due to its outstanding fuel-saving performance, it can increase fuel efficiency by 15% and reduce operating costs by 8%. Since the international oil price at that time was at a long-term high of 90-100 US dollars, various aircraft Popular airlines are particularly fond of this model, but Boeing has no model that can compete with it.
American Airlines has always been Boeing's exclusive major customer. Now that even American Airlines is "betraying" and turning, Boeing is suddenly anxious. In order to seize the lost ground, Boeing gave up the tradition of taking 10 years to develop new passenger aircraft, directly upgraded the main old passenger aircraft Boeing 737, hastily launched the 737MAX model, and promised to deliver it within 6 years. In order to compete with Airbus in terms of fuel efficiency, the 737MAX was replaced with a larger and more fuel-efficient engine. However, due to the limitations of the fuselage, the engine was forced to move upward, which led to the risk of the aircraft stalling during takeoff.
The solution given by Boeing is to install sensors on the aircraft to determine whether the head is raised too high during flight, and to prevent the aircraft from diving through MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System). Boeing said that this aircraft requires almost no additional flight training, and the large amount of training time originally needed to adapt to the needs of the new aircraft has been "cut off", saving airlines a lot of costs. When Boeing delivered the 737 MAX, it did not even mention the existence of the MCAS system to pilots.
This MCAS system does not make airplanes safer, but the result is exactly the opposite. In an emergency situation, the pilot needs to analyze the fault and take emergency measures in a short time, and the 10 seconds given are simply not enough. Basically, after 10 seconds, you're dead. (You're dead.)" the U.S. Congressional Investigation Report said.
How did McDonnell Douglas fall from the second to the third in the world, and finally be merged by Boeing? The DC-10 launched by McDonnell Douglas had a good market response, but they It was a disaster to upgrade it to the MD-11 with almost no money. The same situation happened to the MD-90/95. Boeing did not learn from the failure of McDonnell Douglas and was officially launched in August 2011. The 737MAX received thousands of orders in more than a year, ensuring cash income for many years to come.
Airbus focused on civilian aircraft, vigorously engaged in research and development, and continuously launched new models. , and Boeing is engaged in both military aircraft and aerospace, and has insufficient investment in the field of civilian aircraft, making it difficult to take care of both. In the more than 20 years since the merger with McDonnell Douglas, Boeing has only launched one new aircraft, the B787. What is more dangerous than losing profits is losing. The future. Boeing has hesitated for so long that this piece of cake is now taken away by Airbus. Both parties were evenly matched in 2018 and delivered more than 800 aircraft. By 2020, Airbus delivered 566 aircraft. Boeing only delivered 157 aircraft, which is more than twice the difference.
The manufacturing industry has limited profits, and it is not advisable to blindly pursue profits. On May 5, 2017, China’s first large aircraft, the C919, successfully made its first flight. There is a long way to go, but as long as we continue step by step, I believe that one day, the Chinese will be able to fly on domestically produced large planes.
