Because we dared to dream, dared to work hard, we have turned dreams into realities, to leave some huge footprints on every aerospace frontier. Now it is time to create some new footprints!
Phil Condit
In January 2000, The Boeing Company purchased Hughes Electronics Corporation’s space and communications business and its related operations, originators of the Surveyor spacecraft and satellites 376, 601 and 702. Then, in September 2000, Boeing purchased Jeppesen Sanderson Inc., a leading provider of aeronautical charts, and in October 2000, through Boeing Australia subsidiary, bought Hawker de Havilland, designer and manufacturer of commercial and military aerostructure components.
In March 2001, Boeing announced plans to move its headquarters office from Seattle, Wash., to an area separate from the bases of its various businesses. After an extensive site evaluation process, the company selected Chicago and began operations in its new World Headquarters offices on Sept. 4, 2001. On July 10, 2002, Boeing merged the company’s space, defense, government, intelligence and communications into one business unit, headquartered in St. Louis, called Integrated Defense Systems.
Integrated Defense Systems products included the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the F-15E Eagle, the AV-8B Harrier II Plus, the F/A-22 Raptor, the C-17 Globemaster III transport, the C-40A and C-32A transports, the T-45 Training System, 767 tankers, and the AC-130U Gunship. Rotorcraft included the RAH-66 Comanche, the CH-47 Chinook, the AH-64D Apache Longbow, and the V-22 Osprey. Weapons programs included the Conventional Air-Launched Cruise Missile (CALCM), the Harpoon antiship missile, the Standoff Land Attack Missile Expanded Response (SLAM-ER), the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), the Joint Helmet Mointed Cueing System (JHMCS), and new technologies for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAV).
Space and communications products included AWACS, E-6 TACAMO, International Space Station, Sea Launch, space shuttle orbiters and their main engines, and next-generation Global Positioning System satellites. Boeing also was prime contractor and lead systems integrator on the Global Missile Defense program for the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization.
Based in Seattle, Boeing Commercial Airplanes products included the 717, 737, 747, 757, 767 and 777 families of jetliners and the Boeing Business Jet. During 2002, Commercial Airplanes started to build two new longer range jetliners, the 747-400ER and the 777-300ER.
Based in Renton, Wash., the Boeing Capital Corporation, the financial services arm, was the asset-based leasing and lending organization. Based in Seattle, Wash., and Irvine, Calif., Connexion by BoeingSM developed a global communications network and provided high-speed Internet and entertainment and data services to mobile platforms. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., and Bellevue, Wash., Boeing Air Traffic Management developed solutions for air traffic control and airport operations.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Boeing products went into battle over Afghanistan during the Operation Enduring Freedom and protected the United States during Operation Noble Eagle. Boeing contributions to assist the disaster relief efforts in the aftermath of Sept. 11 exceeded $8.4 million. Donations came from more than 199,000 Boeing employees and were augmented by company matching funds. The company also donated the use of satellite transponders to the Federal Emergency Management Administration in New York.
Boeing and industry representatives worked around the clock to develop ways to prevent cockpit intrusion, to design video-monitoring equipment to allow pilots to observe the passenger cabin, and to enhance the security of the entire flight process. On Nov. 9, 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush recognized The Boeing Company for its support of its National Guard and reservist employees and highlighted the company as one of four recipients of the 2001 Employer Support Freedom Award.
On Dec. 1, 2003, Phil Condit resigned his position as chairman and CEO. Lewis E. Platt was named non-executive chairman and Harry C. Stonecipher became president and CEO. Stonecipher resigned in March 2005 and James A. Bell, executive vice president and chief financial officer, served as interim Boeing president and chief executive officer through June 2005. On July 1, 2005, W. James (Jim) McNerney Jr., Boeing board member and formerly chairman of the board and CEO of 3M Co., became chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer for The Boeing Company.
For almost one hundred years, Boeing had helped connect people around the world by bringing families, business leaders, and heads of state together for reunions and meetings. It had helped protect people by bringing air superiority, troops, humanitarian aid, and support when duty and disaster called. It had designed and built all but one of the U.S. passenger-carrying spacecraft.
In the 21st century, The Boeing Company continued to be the world leader in missile defense, battlespace management and space-based communications. It continued to work for a new global aviation infrastructure to meet demands of market economies and air traffic growth and was dedicated to advancing the future of space. It harnessed imagination and invention and was determined to advance those technologies that define the aerospace industry and the people it serves.
The Boeing Company was ready to face the challenges of a new millennium. The global reach of the Chicago-based company included customers in 145 countries, employees in more than 60 countries and operations in 26 states. The aviation giants that had evolved from Boeing, Douglas, McDonnell, and North American were now one vast, global enterprise building the future of flight on Earth and beyond, seeking “forever new frontiers.”