“If it ain’t Boeing, I ain’t going”—so ran a cliché popular amongst airline passengers in the United States many years ago. Airbus, Boeing’s fierce rival in the aerospace market, might not be amused, but the saying reflected Boeing’s total dominance of American aviation in the last century. And what of the man who gave “The Boeing Company” its name?

William Edward Boeing was born on October 1, 1881, in Detroit, Michigan, USA. When he first saw an aircraft he was fascinated. However, although he tried determinedly to get a ride at an air show in 1910, he was rebuffed. Meanwhile, he made friends with Navy Lieutenant Conrad Westervelt who shared his passion for aviation. On July 4, 1914, the two experienced their first flight with a barnstormer. Boeing found the plane uncomfortable, loud and unstable. Afterwards he convinced Westervelt that they could build a better machine. But first he had to learn to fly.

In October 1915, Boeing enrolled in a flying school. Soon after going solo he bought a Glenn Martin seaplane for himself and flew it back to Seattle where he lived. However, shortly thereafter, he was involved in an accident. Although he was unhurt, when he tried to order replacement parts he was told they might take months to arrive. Boeing and Westervelt decided not to wait. Instead, they took the aircraft apart and began to study its design with the aim to build a better one. Soon they made the Mallard, an amphibian seaplane with lighter construction, increased wingspan and new pontoons. Boeing took it up for its first flight showing how much confidence he had in his own product.

The Boeing Airplane Company was established in 1917 and had a head start when the US entered World War I. However, when the war ended, the market was flooded with surplus biplanes and no new orders were forthcoming. The aircraft industry itself seemed practically on the verge of collapse. Boeing bided his time by building boats. In March 1919, William Boeing and Eddie Hubbard made aviation history by flying to Vancouver, British Columbia, and bringing mail from there back to Seattle. As the idea of airmail spread, the Boeing Company made its first transport, the Boeing Model 40 biplane of 1925, to replace the de Havilland DH-4. However, biplanes soon became obsolete and most aircraft manufacturers switched to allmetal monoplanes.

In 1926, the Boeing Air Transport (BAT) Corporation was established for mail and passenger carriage. In its first year of operation, BAT transported 1,300 tonnes of mail and 6,000 passengers. William Boeing’s business acumen came to the fore as he purchased new airmail routes and small aircraft companies inexpensively. In 1928, in an interview he said: “It is a matter of great pride and satisfaction for me to realise that within the short space of 12 years, an infant company with less than a dozen men, has grown to be the largest plant in America, devoted solely to the manufacture of aircraft and employing approximately 1,000 men.”

Air travel was also becoming more popular as people lost the fear of flying. Perceiving an opportunity, William Boeing decided to build the company’s first aircraft specifically designed to carry passengers. The Model 80 biplane had three engines and could carry 12 passengers. It first flew on July 27, 1928. An upgraded version, the Model 80A, flew on September 12, 1929, and could take 18 passengers. The cabin had plush leather upholstered seats with individual reading lamps, air ventilation, hot and cold running water and a toilet. The enclosed flight deck was separated from the cabin. Boeing was the first to hire registered female nurses to work as flight attendants and attend to the needs of the passengers on the Model 80A.

On February 1, 1929, BAT was transformed into United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (UATC) that had the entire gamut of aviation enterprises—aircraft, engine and propeller manufacturer, several airlines, and a school for pilots and maintenance personnel. However, in 1934, the US Congress decided to encourage competition and decreed that aircraft manufacturers had to separate from airline companies. Boeing again became an independent manufacturing company, no longer part of UATC and William Boeing opted to retire from the company’s chairmanship.

William Boeing died on September 28, 1956. The secret of his success was his passion for adventure and the gift of taking chances at the right moment that ultimately turned out well. He was also a perfectionist and a visionary. In 1929, he had said, “Now I would say that people want to ride in airplanes more and more each day—and I shall go so far as to say they will someday regard airplane travel to be as commonplace and incidental as train travel... We are trustees of a veritable revolution that is taking place once more in the economic, social and political fabric with the advent of this new speed medium.” The Boeing Company that he founded is today the world’s largest aerospace company, a leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and defence, space and security systems.