Boeing - Past, Present and Future
(A Review at the Year End of 2001)

Based on a presentation at SCAAE (Society of Chinese American Aerospace 
Engineers)

by C. C. Tien

Boeing in 2001

	The Boeing Company, with corporate headquarters in Seattle (1916 - 2001), 
has three divisions: the Boeing Commercial Airplanes Group (BCAG) in Seattle, Wa., the Space & Communications Group (SCG) in Seals Beach, Ca. and the Military Aircraft & Missile Systems Group (MAMSG) in St. Louis, Mo. The 2000 revenue shares from these Groups were: BCAG 60%, SCG 15% and MAMSG 25%. The business future of these groups is of great concern to Boeing's top management.Not long ago, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) awarded a contract to Boeing to "develop, provide launch integration and operate the nation's next generation of imagery reconnaissance satellites".  This new 
generation of satellites is estimated to be worth over $25 billion for the next 2 decades.  A team of Southern California aerospace companies-overseen by Boeing-is actively recruiting engineers for this program. On the military aircraft side, there is plenty of opportunity in the areas of military aircraft and space. The most lucrative defense contract was America's newest fighter jet,, Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), which will be used by the US Air Force, Navy and Marines, as well as the British Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.  Boeing and Lockheed have been 
competing for the contract valued in excess of $300 billion, but the Defense Department awarded the contract to Lockheed in October 2001.

	At the end of 2000, the Boeing Company had a total sale of $57.4 billion and ranked #10 on the Fortune 500 list with a total employment numbered at 198,900.  Deliveries of commercial and military aircraft were 489 and 101 
respectively for this year. The 2000 airplane order was 611 with a backlog 
of 1,612.  The Boeing Commercial Airplane Group is holding a slight lead 
over Airbus but the competition is increasing. It is not easy to compare jet transport deliveries between Boeing and Airbus-Boeing.  Records go back to 1958, long before Airbus even existed. Let's take a snapshot look at deliveries between 1974 and mid-2001-from the time when the A300 first entered service to present day.  As of April 30, 2001, Boeing had delivered 9,913 airplanes and Airbus 2,604. As for airplane orders, the 737 family alone logged 4,560, compared to 4,186 for all the Airbus models combined.

	But BCAG has experienced tremendous pressure from the rising challenge in the global commercial airplane market from Airbus since the early1990s. In 2000, the Airbus made the decision to build a long-range A380 double-deck jet carrying 540 people to leapfrog the Boeing 416-passenger 747 models. At the same time in the US, several large space and defense contracts were in progress. Boeing has apparently plotted a path for its future, planning to become a global aerospace company by divesting commercial airplane production to other countries, and to pursue the defense and space side of the business more vigorously as it moves its head-quarters away from Seattle, home of the Commercial Airplanes Group.  Mr. Condit said at the World Economic Forum in January this year that Boeing's long-term goalwas to move from "selling to the world" to becoming a "global operation doing business in many different countries." The strong showing of Airbus in announcing big commercial jet orders at the 2001 Paris Air Show underscored the necessary steps taken by Boeing. (Part 2 of 4, to be continued.)