Company Overview

Boeing is the undisputed juggernaut of the aerospace and defense industry. With its acquisition of McDonnell Douglas—the world’s top military aircraft maker—in 1997, the company became the biggest aerospace firm in the world, in addition to being the sole maker of commercial jets in the United States. Among its more well-known commercial aircraft are the 737 (the best-selling jet in history) and the 747, as well as the F-15 Eagle and the F/A-18 Hornet military jets. Boeing is a major contractor for NASA and launches satellites for the U.S. military. The airplane manufacturer delivered 398 aircraft in 2006, and filled orders for more than 440 commercial planes in 2007. Boeing exceeded expectations by obliterating the previous sales record of $21 billion at the 10th Annual Dubai Air Show, and projected that 1,160 new aircraft worth approximately $190 billion will be delivered in the Middle East in the next 20 years. The company is organized into three main business units: Commercial Airplanes, Boeing Capital Corporation, and Integrated Defense Systems. Its Shared Services Group provides support for all three units; its Phantom Works group is the research and development arm of the company. Boeing sells its products in 145 countries. In response to Airbus’s A380, Boeing announced it will build a stretch 450-passenger 747-8, but the company has also bet that the future of commercial aviation is not larger jets, but instead fuel-efficient, long-range craft, like its 787 Dreamliner, now under development. Boeing estimates that the craft will hold 200 to 250 passengers and have a range of 6,500 to 8,000 nautical miles. Airbus countered, announcing plans to release a craft to compete with the 47 in 2010. What’s more, the company reportedly dropped hints that opening an operation in Alabama would solve a revenue problem in which most of the company’s revenues come in as American bucks and expenses go out in Euros—a difference that costs Airbus $1 billion in profit. The Seattle Times reported in December that Boeing had already surpassed last year's record net sales of 1,044 by 100 airplanes, and Airbus had already surpassed by 40 airplanes without a large order from China. And so the race continues.