The war to end all wars -- WWI -- had ended.
America was heading into the Roaring '20s.
Indeed, business was about to boom -- except for the fledgling flight industry. That idea, launched 15 years earlier in a brief takeoff in Kitty Hawk, N.C., was dangling.
A team of nearly 300 shipwrights, cabinetmakers and seamstresses working in a warehouse along Seattle's Duwamish River hustled to make ends meet. William Boeing had gathered the group over the prior few years to build floatplanes for the U.S. military. Boeing's crew would grow through the next decade to become the largest aviation operation in the world.
Yet for now they built furniture, speedboats and whatever else would earn a buck until airplanes outgrew their status as a barnstorming oddity.
"Wall Street would not invest in the airline business," said Robert van der Linden, chairman of the aeronautics division of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air & Space Museum. "It was so new, so raw and so unproven that no one wanted to risk investment."
Boeing's view was longer. He recognized aviation's potential and saw the rate at which the world around him was changing.
Technology was presenting challenges so "new and unusual," he said, "that it behooves no one to dismiss any novel idea with the statement that it can't be done."
Soaring Cash
Boeing (1881-1956) had an advantage over competitors: money. The Detroit native quit Yale University in 1903 -- the year the Wright brothers took off -- to head for the Pacific Northwest. He then leveraged inherited timberland into a booming lumber firm.
Boeing also inherited a large share of mineral rights in Minnesota's iron ore-rich Mesabi range.
Combined, the assets hoisted him into the upper crust of...
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...ny that bore his name.
The lumberman-turned-aviator turned his focus to breeding thoroughbred horses. But the company he founded would continue as one of the world's two largest aircraft makers and remains the largest exporting operation in the U.S.
"Boeing had taken the airplane from being a curiosity," Lombardi said, "into a tool that was running the commerce of the country."
Works Cited
"William Boeing's Airline Boost; See The Horizon: His feel for tech and talent steered planes in the right direction." Investor's Business Daily 7 Aug. 2007: A03. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/suic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=News&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=SUIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CA192580366&mode=view&userGroupName=west34111&jsid=c0c3471468b48bcbd7ba5020f7581646
The flight of Charles A. Lindbergh was actually three phases. The preflight that was step of obtaining the plane, the arrangements of sponsors, and making a list of land marks. Probably the most important phase out of all was the actual flight from New York to Paris, France. The final phase would consist of a man turning into a hero when he finally reaches Paris.
Back in the 1920’s when commercial aviation was a fairly new technology it was a slow business. In the 1930’s, the DC-3 was introduced and the airline industry started to become more profitable. The original DC-1 and its successor the DC-2 were both well known planes during their times. Since Douglas was well known for their prowess in engineering, American A...
The Boeing Company originally started out as the Pacific Aero Products Co., which was founded on July 15, 1916. The name was changed about a year later to The Boeing Airplane Company. The Boeing Company stayed relatively small until World War I when they were selected by Navy officials to produce an order for 50 model C's planes for the war efforts. The company continued to prosper and by the late 1950s, Boeing President William Allen knew that the company had the scientists, the experience and the facilities to lead the company into uncharted territories. He was right, Boeing has emerged as the leading aerospace company in the world today.
The Boeing Corporation is one of the largest manufacturers in the world. Rivaled only by European giant Airbus in the aerospace industry, Boeing is a leader in research, design and manufacture of commercial jet airliners, for commercial, industrial and military customers. Despite enjoying immense success in its market and dominating an industry that solely recognizes engineering excellence, it is crucial for Boeing to ensure continued growth through consistent strategy formulation and execution to avoid falling behind in market share to close and coming rivals.
United Airlines is one of the largest airlines in the United States and worldwide. Also, it is ranked as the oldest commercial airline that was founded by Walter Varney. United Airlines started as an Air Mail Service and then extended its services to be an Air Carrier. In 1927, William Boeing started his own airline, Boeing Air Transport, and started buying any other air mail companies, which included the Varney’s Air Mail Company. After a while, Boeing started manufacturing aircraft and parts, which allowed him to extend his company to a bigger organization. Also, within Boeing’s company, he bought several airports to expand his organization. In 1929, Boeing’s company has changed its name to be United Aircraft and Transport Corp. (UATC).
Planes have developed immensely through the years. The Wright brothers developed the first plane in 1903.
...others got a United States contract for one plane, and with the hope of selling overseas they resumed flying. Wilbur toured Europe and demonstrated their plane. In 1909 the Wright brothers founded the Wright Company, which acquired their patent and infringement cases. Wilbur was president, Orville vice president.
The 737 was originally created on on May 11 1964, however it wasn’t until November 9th 1964 that production was officially approved. On February 19th 1965 Lufthansa placed its first order for the 737-100, and on the 9th of april 1967 the 737 flew for the first time. In 1970, Boeing had less than 35 orders for the 737 and considered canceling the program. Boeing however ultimately decided to cut from other areas and to continue the 737 program. By deciding to continue the program Boeing paved the way for its future success and formed the backbone of many airlines that exist today that solely fly the 737.
Technology Innovation: - Boeing should carefully analyze the market to evaluate the trends in the airline industry and aggressively invest in a new product line (top dog strategy) that could counter Airbus’s A380.
Alan Mulally’s development as a leader began at childhood and continued late into his career at Boeing. In an interview with scholars Prasada Kaipa and Mark Kriger (2010), Mr. Mulally attr...
Tom, Y. (2009). The perennial crisis of the airline industry: Deregulation and innovation. (Order No. 3351230, The Claremont Graduate University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 662-n/a. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/304861508?accountid=8364. (304861508).
Since the beginning of time man has always dreamed of flight and throughout the ages has made many failing attempts. Some of the first records of attempted flight date back to the ancient Greek times when Daedalus and Icarus had their catastrophic failure. Finally in the early 1900s the Wright brothers had the right stuff and made the first flying powered aircraft, thus the world of Aviation was born. When it comes to Aviation the main purpose is obviously travel and getting from point A to point B in a very short amount of time. During the early days of flight air travel was very primitive in nature and could be downright dangerous; because not only were there very few rules and regulations, but there were not any legitimate air carriers specifically in the business for carrying passengers. Soon after the advent of flight, many people saw how profitable Aviation could be and took advantage of the market in its infancy, and created the airlines as we know them today. One of those Airlines was Varney Airlines.
Cruising on a seven-forty-seven, a frequent occurrence in current American society, but a pretty young industry in the broad scope of the United States’ history. It was only a little over one hundred years ago that the first airplane glided for twelve seconds. The impact of air travel can clearly be examined by looking at how humanity operated and communicated without it, how flight was innovated, and how the aviation industry changed different aspects of american life on a national scale.
Within the following decade need for air-transport made it very desirable. This is mainly due to World War I as many of the retired bombers were turned into commercial airliners. Soon after these flights commenced it became very apparent that in order to be making any financial again there needed to be more people on these aircraft as they could initially fit four passengers (Century of Flight 2008). British aviation company de Havilland built a ten passenger plane that seated it occupants in comfort called the de Havilland Dragon. 1930’s saw the expansion of the commercial airliner market (Century of Flight 2008). As the need for air-transport grew so did the supply, as for any demand. Ailing such as Lufthansa (Germany), United Airlines (United States), Imperial Airways (Britain) and KLM were just some of the airlines that started operating in this
As Boeing’s CEO, Frank Shrontz promised to increase earnings and return on equity. Boeing had a history of making money when its competitors did not, but Mr. Shrontz wanted higher returns. The airline industry was characterized by large cash outflows for R&D and manufacturing and long payback periods over long life cycles for each new airframe design. Companies had to have deep pockets to keep the operation going while waiting for a return on their investments. If Mr. Shrontz could increase the return on equity for Boeing, it would increase the likelihood of Boeing’s continued success well into the future.