The 1960s were good years for the commercial airline industry.

As passengers finally started to realize that commercial aviation was no passing trend, they took advantage of the uicker travel times and relia!ility. Air fares were falling to a new low !ecause of this, and the lower prices !ecame another incentive for sky travelers. This resulted in the overcrowding of airports, airplanes, and the skies. "oeing was doing very well at this time, !ut the airline companies were getting a little apprehensive a!out the possi!le lack of space for the rapidly growing customer !ase #$oland, %006&. 'uring the mid(1960s, the president of )an American Airlines, *uan Trippe, asked "oeing for a new plane that could carry +00 passengers, after !eing refused !y the company to create a longer version of the ,0, - this was denied for .technical reasons/ #0oeveler, 1999, p. 16&. This was twice the capacity of "oeing1s most used commercial airliner to date, the ,0,. #$oland, %006& 2t 3ust so happened that "oeing had !een designing a strategic airlifter for the 45 military throughout the late 1960s and early 1960s. "oeing actually lost that contract opportunity to 7ockheed, !ut the e8perience in the pro3ect gave "oeing what they needed to !e a!le to launch the !uilding of the ,+,. 5ome 60,000 "oeing employees were given the enormous task of designing and constructing the plane. $icknamed .The 2ncredi!les,/ #"oeing9 ,+,, 1996(%00,& they worked at what was then the world1s largest #!y volume& !uilding, !uilt solely for construction of the ,+,, in :verett, ;ashington. 2n less than 16 months, the construction of the world1s most successful airliner was complete, starting a whole new era in the history of "oeing. #"oeing9 ,+,, 1996(%00,& <any interesting specifications and trivia a!out the popular ,+, e8ist, including the following9

 The ,+, has flown =.6 !illion passengers. The world population is appro8imately si8 !illion #$oland, %006&. The entire glo!al navigation system weighs less than a modern laptop computer #"oeing9 ,+,, 1996(%00,&. The ,+, spent over 16,000 total hours in wind channel test situations #0oeveler, 1999&. The ne8t commercial transport airplanes to !e !uilt !y "oeing were the ,6, and the ,6,. "oth were !uilt in the 19,0s, !ut each was constructed in a different location> the ,6, in ?enton, ;ashington, and the ,6, in :verett, ;ashington #"oeing9 ,6,, 1996( %00,&. The ,6, can carry two hundred to three hundred passengers, and was designed to !e spacious while !eing stingy on fuel consumption. The ,6, has less of a carrying capacity, !ut remains very efficient of fuel. 2ts purpose was to replace the older ,%,s !eing used for commercial transportation, while !eing eighty percent more economic on fuel #"oeing9 ,6,, 1996(%00,&. 5ome !its of trivia on the ,6, and the ,6, include9 The ,6, sold more uickly than the ,6,, which was released five months later, !ut the latter model currently has many more sales than the ,6, #@lo!al9 "oeing ,6,, %000(%00,&. .The ,6, has the lowest operating cost per seat(mile of any single( aisle 3etliner in its class./ #@lo!al9 "oeing ,6,, %000(%00,, p. %& The ,6, was the first airplane in its class to have a fight deck !uilt for two instead of three. #@lo!al9 "oeing ,6,, %000(%00,&

<ore than ten years after "oeing1s release of the ,6, and ,6,, the plans for the company1s ne8t commercial plane were announced. 5tarted in 1990, the pro3ect was a large one, !ut it was also different from any other 3etliner construction process to date, as the .triple(seven/ was completely drafted using ='(imaging graphics from a computer, a first in the industry #"oeing9 ,,,, 1996(%00,&. This saved time and money, since there was no need for multiple two(dimensional drawings or a scaled prototype, as the plane was shown .preassem!led/ on the computer screen #"oeing9 ,,,, 1996(%00,&. The ,,, is a very technologically advanced passenger plane, and should continue to serve "oeing well in the future. 2n 199,, "oeing and <c'onnell 'ouglas merged, after long on(off merger talks, creating the largest defense contractor in the country, passing 7ockheed(<artin #?olinitis, 199,&. "y keeping the name of "oeing, the newly com!ined companies were a!le to have a strong military contract while keeping the name relation of "oeing and passenger planes alive. "oeing has had a long, great history, !ut what a!out the future of the companyA "oeing has announced plans for a new 3etliner, the ,B, .'reamliner,/ which is clamed to !e a .super(efficient/ airplane #"oeing9 'reamliner, 1996(%00,&. "oeing is known for using the top technology in its airplanes, and the ,B, will !e no different. A!out half of the plane will !e made out of composites, including epo8y and car!on fi!er #Toensmeier, %006&, which saves the company money as well as time in !uilding the aircraft. Cor e8ample, .!y manufacturing a one(piece fuselage sectionD

E"oeing isF eliminating fifteen hundred aluminum sheets and forty to fifty thousand fasteners/ #"oeing9 'reamliner, 1996(%00,, p. 1&. 2n %006, the 'reamliner1s configuration design was confirmed, and to this date, "oeing and its partners in construction are in the .ma3or assem!ly/ stage #"oeing9 'reamliner, 1996(%00,&. The final assem!ly plant for the ,B, is planned to open sometime this year, with first flight !efore the end of %00, as well. .'elivery and service/ is scheduled for %00B #"oeing9 'reamliner, 1996(%00,, p. 1&. "oeing has !een a growing company and continues to grow. Throughout the years, the company has produced a myriad of aircraft, each !uilt to the highest standards of their time. "oeing has !ecome synonymous with airplanes, safety, and technology. ;hile the future looks very !right for "oeing, one must always remem!er that it is the history of the company that sets the foundation for the future.