【時報訊】70年前的夏天，James S. McDonnell在Lambert創設了麥道(McDonnell)航空公司。McDonnell並非生於此地，但他卻將第一個目標定在了聖路易和田納西州的孟菲斯之間。最終，他選擇了聖路易，並舉家從巴爾的摩搬到了這裡。接下來，便是眾所周知的一段航空業歷史的開端。
成百上千的波音公司雇員、各級政要以及參加工會的工人出席了波音公司高層行政管理人員舉辦的70周年慶典活動，該活動演繹了波音公司及其前身-麥道公司的70年創業歷史。
波音公司的防禦性武器製造業是聖路易地區第二大的雇用企業，擁有工人16，000人。
儘管慶典參加者將大多數注意力放在了軍用飛機和武器製造的歷史上，波音公司卻已開始著眼於麥道今後的發展。他們已為波音公司持續生產改造C-17 Globemaster III（運輸機型）以及F/A-18 Super Hornet這兩種型號的飛機申請了政府採購基金，這項基金很可能會因五角大廈國防經費花銷優先權的改變而受到影響。
秘書Robert Gates提議為已在生產或者使用中的C-17機型設置經費上限，並且在下一個年度按比例縮小對於F/A-18s型飛機的採購，但是國會本年度的緊急戰爭花銷預算中，僅計畫購買8架C-17型飛機。
參議員Christopher S. "Kit" Bond曾表示，希望政府下一個年度的國防預算能夠支援12架波音公司生產的運輸機型的額外購買。Bond說：“我們非常擔心，我希望政府能夠多購買15架C-17型飛機。但是由於目前預算實在有限，這樣的願望恐怕難以實現。如果政府方面能夠向波音公司承諾多年持續採購，我們一方面可以繼續支持波音公司的發展，另一方面也不會過分增加納稅人的壓力。”
參議員Claire McCaskill表示，她曾聽到軍方部門官員質疑F/A-18和C-17飛機的品質。“一分價錢一分貨，Super Hornet的戰鬥力和可靠性是你能夠想像到的戰鬥機中最佳的選擇。”波音公司綜合防禦系統的聖路易地區執行理事George Roman，以及聖路易高級執行理事John Van Gels則透露，關於航空器採購的政府預算將會在今年秋季公佈。
Boeing Celebrates 70 Years In St. Louis
Seventy years ago this summer, James S. McDonnell opened his new company, McDonnell Aircraft Corp., at Lambert Field.
McDonnell wasn't from here but his choice came down to St. Louis and Memphis, Tenn. McDonnell chose St. Louis and moved his family here from Baltimore. And the rest, one might say, is aviation history.
Top executives of the Boeing Co. on Thursday marked those first 70 years of Boeing and its predecessors -McDonnell Aircraft and McDonnell Douglas Corp. - in St. Louis. The celebration was attended by hundreds of employees, local political leaders and organized labor.
Boeing's defense arm is the second-largest employer in the St. Louis region with about 16,000 workers.
While celebrants focused mostly on the local history of military aircraft and weapon manufacturing, elected officials made a familiar plea for continued funding of the C-17 Globemaster III transport plane and the F/A-18 Super Hornet. The two Boeing-built aircraft are threatened by a shift in Pentagon spending priorities.
Secretary Robert Gates proposed capping U.S. orders for the C-17 at the 205 already in use or in production and a scaled-down purchase of F/A-18s in next year's budget.
But Congress provided funding for eight more C-17s in this year's emergency war spending bill.
Last week, Sen. Christopher S. "Kit" Bond, R-Mo, co-authored a letter seeking funding for a dozen more of the Boeing-built transporters in next year's defense appropriations bill.
"We're fighting hard," said Bond. "I would hope we could get 15 C-17s. With a tight budget, that may be much. I would like to see a multiyear (purchase) for the F/A-18s. We can make it more efficient for Boeing ＃ if we give them a plan for buying over several years. And that makes it cheaper for the taxpayers."
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said she has heard military members speak in glowing terms about the capabilities of the F/A-18s and C-17s.
"Pound for pound, dollar for dollar, capability, reliability, you have built a tremendous fighter jet," McCaskill said of the Super Hornet.
George Roman, St. Louis regional executive of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, and John Van Gels, St. Louis senior site executive, said the fate of federal spending on the aircraft will become clear this fall.
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