The Boeing Company

The Boeing Company designs and delivers commercial airplanes, defense products, space systems and services to customers worldwide. Founded in 1916, it operates across the aerospace, defense, space exploration, transportation and global services sectors. Technical work spans aerospace engineering, commercial aviation, defense systems, space exploration and aircraft design and manufacturing.

The company's product portfolio ranges from commercial airliners to defence equipment and crewed spaceflight hardware. Programmes include the Boeing 747, a pioneering wide-body airliner, and commercial airplane families more generally; defense products and systems; and space systems such as the International Space Station and the CST-100 Starliner crew transportation vehicle. Services are provided to a global customer base.

Boeing began in Seattle, Washington, where founder William E. Boeing, a Yale-educated timber merchant and aviation enthusiast, built the company's first two aircraft: hand-crafted B&W seaplanes made in a converted boat house on Lake Union. Drawing on Pacific Northwest timber industry expertise and a skilled local workforce, the firm has since grown into a multinational enterprise serving customers worldwide, with more than a century of continuous operation.

The stated orientation of the business connects three aims: connecting the world through commercial aviation, protecting nations through defense systems, and extending human reach into space. Innovation, quality and craftsmanship have been part of the company's identity since its earliest aircraft.