The Boeing company has been around for more than 100 years, since William E. Boeing became interested in planes. For most of that time, the company was the gold standard in aircraft manufacturing. The Boeing company bought up other aviation companies any time it got the chance, and incorporated their experts into its research and development division. In the 1990s, Boeing acquired its most notorious rival, McDonnell Douglas. Many in the industry say that merger was the turning point for Boeing, although the general public wouldn't know for years. Boeing's corporate culture had always deferred to its engineering experts, while McDonnell Douglas was run to produce corporate profits. Lately, we've seen which culture prevailed.
In 2018 and 2019, two Boeing commercial airliners crashed catastrophically. Then in 2024, the company has experienced a spate of parts falling off its planes left and right. What's going on? Weird History tells us what we know about the Boeing company from its inception to today's troubles.