Boeing took the dream of flight and built an American icon

December 3 1985. Inside the Boeing 747, a worker pushes a package container to start it rolling. From the Barry Bingham, Jr. Courier-Journal Photograph Collection at the University of Louisville Archives & Special Collections.

Congressman Rob Bresnahan Jr. is given a tour of the Wallenpaupack Area High School aviation program and tries out the Boeing 737 cockpit simulator on Feb. 26, 2026.

A United Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner is seen on the tarmac at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California, on July 26, 2023.

Feb 1, 2026; Santa Clara, CA, USA; The New England Patriots private Boeing 767-300 team airplane (registration N36NE) arrives to Super Bowl LX at San Jose Mineta International Airport. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

A Boeing 777-300ER aircraft operated by Qatar Airways is parked outside the American Airlines cargo terminal at John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in New York City on March 2, 2026.

An American Airlines Boeing 737-823 taxis in Miami International AirPort (MIA) on January 22, 2026.

Boeing

An Avelo Airlines Boeing 737-86N sits on the tarmac at the William P. Hobby Airport in Houston on April 20, 2025.

A screen displays the logo for Boeing on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., April 2, 2025.

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 at Denver International Airport.

A snow removal machine is seen working while a Boeing 737 American Airlines passenger aircraft is parked at gate on the tarmac of LaGuardia airport in New York on Jan. 25, 2026. A massive winter storm on January 24, 2026 dumped snow and freezing rain on New Mexico and Texas as it swept across the United States towards the northeast, threatening tens of millions of Americans with blackouts, transportation chaos and bone-chilling cold. Shoppers stripped supermarket shelves as the National Weather Service (NWS) forecast huge snowfall in some areas and possibly "catastrophic" ice accumulations.

Southwest Airlines Flight 1589, operated by a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, comes in for a landing in front of the air traffic control tower at Denver International Airport on Nov. 9, 2025.

NASA astronaut Suni Williams gestures in June 2024 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center ahead of the launch of Boeing's Starliner-1 Crew Flight Test mission on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station.

Avelo Airline's Boeing 737-700 takes off for its first flight to Orlando, Florida, out of Wilmington Airport near New Castle on Feb. 1, 2023. Avelo's inaugural flight marks the return of commercial flight services to Delaware and offers non-stop trips to five Florida locations.

A Boeing C-17A Globemaster III prepares to leave at Palm Beach International Airport after offloading equipment for President Donald Trump's visit on January 15, 2026, in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Donald Trump gives a speech at an aircraft hangar near Port Columbus International on March 1, 2016. His customized Boeing 757 served as a backdrop for the event.

Former President Donald Trump's Boeing 757 private jet is parked at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, on October 25, 2022. Often referred to as "Trump Force One," the plane has a new paint job with "TRUMP" on the fuselage, and a new American flag on the tail.

A Boeing C-17A Globemaster III prepares to leave at Palm Beach International Airport after offloading equipment for President Donald Trump's visit on January 15, 2026, in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Blue Angels officials secure an exterior access panel on a Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet at Million Air El Paso on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, during a winter visit ahead of the MSSG Amigo Airsho in October 2026.

The Boeing E/A-18 Growler during Friday rehearsals for the Cocoa Beach Air Dot Show, presented by KelTec, held at Lori Wilson Park July 12-13.

Lt. Ronny Hafeza, a Blue Angels official, gets off a Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet at a hangar at Million Air El Paso on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, during a winter visit ahead of the MSSG Amigo Airsho in October 2026.

President Donald Trump's motorcade is parked next to a 12-year-old Qatari-owned Boeing 747-8 in West Palm Beach, Florida, on February 15, 2025.

A Hyundai Boeing 737-7GE aircraft, operated by a private owner registered in South Korea, according to its tail number information on Flightradar24, a flight-tracking service, is seen April 22, 2025, at Vero Beach Regional Airport.

A Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter to be used in the U.S. Army's 250th Birthday Celebration and Parade, prepares to land on the National Mall near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on June 11, 2025.

People walk near Boeing Plaza during the opening day of EAA AirVenture 2025 at Wittman Regional Airport, Monday, July 21, 2025, in Oshkosh, Wis.

The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor during Friday rehearsals for the Cocoa Beach Air Dot Show, presented by KelTec, held at Lori Wilson Park July 12-13.

Research teams prepare payloads on the G-Force One, a Boeing 727 used by Zero-G to conduct weightlessness flights. The company is flying out of Salina Regional Airport this month for 10 research flights.

Vintage Boeing Stearman aircraft flown by Flying Circus Air Show pilots Rick Conn, upper left, John Weyrich, bottom left, and Keith Firmin, upper right, and Kasey Campbell, bottom right, barnstorm in Bealeton, VA during the final show of the 2025 season on Oct. 26, 2025.

NASA astronaut Suni Williams is helped out of a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft March 18 following a return to Earth after a nine-month stay at the International Space Station. She and NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore crewed the Boeing Starliner, which had launched in June 2024 on a failed test flight that was meant to return them to Earth a few days later.

The Boeing EA-18G Growlers on the second day of the Cocoa Beach Air Show held July 12-13.

The Pan Am Boeing 757.

Comic book legend Stan Lee, center, walks onto a stage July 28, 2017, at EAA AirVenture's Boeing Plaza with Jack Pelton, CEO of EAA.

The Boeing E/A-18 Growler during Friday rehearsals for the Cocoa Beach Air Dot Show, presented by KelTec, held at Lori Wilson Park July 12-13.

The Cici & Hyatt Brown Center for Aerospace Technology at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Research Park in Daytona Beach officially opened on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. The Boeing research facility is expected to create nearly 400 high-paying jobs over the next few years.

The U.S. Navy Blue Angels demonstration team Commander Adam Bryan does a media availability in front of his Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet upon arrival for the 2025 Sun ’n Fun Aerospace Expo Thursday April 3 2025 in Lakeland Fl. Ernst Peters/The Ledger

Construction of Thunderbird Field began in 1941. The airfield was part of the U.S. Army’s Civilian Pilot Training Program, whose goal was to increase the number of trained pilots in America in case the country became involved in the war raging at the time in Europe. Thunderbird was a civilian contract school operated by Southwest Airways and supervised by army air force personnel. The first class of cadets, 57 strong, arrived in March 1941. They received 65 hours of flying training and 109 hours of ground-school instruction over a period of nine weeks. After that, they may have gone on to more advanced training at another airfield. By the time Thunderbird closed in June 1945, more than 10,000 men and trained there, as well as 15 classes of Chinese Air Force cadets. The plane they learned in was the bi-wing Boeing PT-17, popularly known as the “Stearman.” In this 1946 image of the field, the resemblance of the building layout to the Native American concept of the mythical thunderbird can be seen. At the bottom, the control tower forms part of the tail of the thunderbird.

Hundreds of elementary students from Brevard Public Schools are learning teamwork, problem-solving and more this month through the Boeing-sponsored Destination Moon STEM Challenge.

A Qatari Boeing 747 sits on the tarmac of Palm Beach International airport after US President Donald Trump toured the aircraft on February 15, 2025.

Ramp agents load a Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300 with fuel ahead of a long flight to Doha, Qatar, at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in April 2019.

A Boeing 737 MAX-10 performs a flying display at the 54th International Paris Airshow at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France, on June 20, 2023.

A British Airways Boeing 787 comes in to land at Heathrow airport in west London on June 8, 2020.

A Vincennes University aircraft, a Boeing 737-200, is staged on the tarmac Wednesday, June 18, 2025, during a multi-agency emergency training exercise to evaluate airport emergency operations plans at the Indianapolis International Airport.

Kathleen Jolivette, vice president and general manager of vertical lift at Boeing Defense, Space & Security, on April 18, highlights the longtime partnership with Bell on the V-22 Osprey program.

A Boeing 767 of Japan Airlines.

Boeing Plaza at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2025 Monday, July 21, 2025, in Oshkosh, Wis.

Pilot Joe Bender and wing walker Madison Parsons perform flying The Flying Circus Air Show’s silver and black 450 hp Boeing Stearman A75N1- PT17 aircraft as they barnstorm in Bealeton, VA, during the final show of the 2025 season on Oct. 26, 2025. The Flying Circus Air Show, founded in 1971, has been continuously performing up to 27 airshows a year in Bealeton at the same airfield location since 1971.

A Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter to be used in the U.S. Army's 250th Birthday Celebration and Parade, is seen following landing on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on June 11, 2025.

The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22A Raptor Demo Team on second day of the Cocoa Beach Air Show held July 12-13. Their performance included demonstrating its defensive capabilities that include flares to counter missile threats.

Launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched the eighth flight of the Space Force's Boeing-built X-37B space plane. Launch was at 11:50 p.m. EDT Thursday, August 21 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center Pad 39A with the booster landing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Pilot Joe Bender and wing walker Madison Parsons perform flying The Flying Circus Air Show’s silver and black 450 hp Boeing Stearman A75N1- PT17 aircraft as they barnstorm in Bealeton, VA, during the final show of the 2025 season on Oct. 26, 2025. The Flying Circus Air Show, founded in 1971, has been continuously performing up to 27 airshows a year in Bealeton at the same airfield location since 1971.

US President Donald Trump speaks to the crowd during a ceremony celebrating the rollout of the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner at the Boeing South Carolina plant in North Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. February 17, 2017.

A Pan Am Boeing 747 flying over snow covered mountains in 1970.

An American Airlines Flagship suite in bed mode on a Boeing 787.

The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor during Friday rehearsals for the Cocoa Beach Air Dot Show, presented by KelTec, held at Lori Wilson Park July 12-13.

The 'Spirit of Delta' Boeing 767 on display at the Delta Flight Museum.

The U.S. Navy Blue Angels demonstration team fly their Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets in formation during arrival for the 2025 Sun ’n Fun Aerospace Expo Thursday April 3 2025 in Lakeland Fl. Ernst Peters/The Ledger

Boeing and NASA teams work around NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test Starliner spacecraft after it landed Sept. 2024 uncrewed, at White Sands, New Mexico.

The U.S. Navy Blue Angels demonstration Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets upon arrival for the 2025 Sun ’n Fun Aerospace Expo Thursday April 3 2025 in Lakeland Fl. Ernst Peters/The Ledger

Military veterans from The Bonaventure Sky Active Living senior community in Ventura take photos before their flights in a 1940s Boeing Stearman at Camarillo Airport on April 30, 2025.

A Boeing sign sits on a building near Boeing Field, as trade tensions escalate over U.S. tariffs with China, in Seattle, Washington, U.S. April 22, 2025.

Economy seats on American Airlines' new premium-heavy Boeing 787.

This photograph shows seats in the Qsuite Business Class of the Special UEFA Champions League Boeing 777-300ER of Qatar Airways.

Boeing 737 MAX aircraft are assembled at the company’s plant in Renton, Washington, U.S. June 25, 2024.

Mark Sears, left, vice president of Boeing Fighters, and Dr. P. Barry Butler, the president of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, field questions from the media following the ribbon-cutting ceremony to open a new Boeing research center called the Cici & Hyatt Brown Center for Aerospace Technology at the Embry-Riddle Research Park in Daytona Beach on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. The center is expected to create nearly 400 high-paying jobs.

Pilot Joe Bender and wing walker Madison Parsons perform flying The Flying Circus Air Show’s silver and black 450 hp Boeing Stearman A75N1- PT17 aircraft as they barnstorm in Bealeton, VA, during the final show of the 2025 season on Oct. 26, 2025. The Flying Circus Air Show, founded in 1971, has been continuously performing up to 27 airshows a year in Bealeton at the same airfield location since 1971.

A Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter to be used in the U.S. Army's 250th Birthday Celebration and Parade, is seen following landing on the National Mall near the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., on June 11, 2025.