April 15th, 2020 : Fly United... Canada Geese Do

[xoxoxoBruce]

In 1916 Bill Boeing founded Aero Products Company, then in 1917 changed the name to the Boeing Airplane Company. Clever eh?
Starting with flying boats for the Navy then expanded to other planes, some with floats and some with wheels.
Another branch of the company started flying mail contracts then since they're going there added passengers to the service.
This is a 1928 baggage sticker for the Boeing System from their two routes, one between Seattle and Los Angeles with
four stops in between. The second route was between San Francisco and Chicago with four stops along the way.



The emblem on the foreword fuselage is the Boeing totem pole which they adopted in 1928. It’s my favorite.
The emblem/design on the rear fuselage I’ve never seen before, not a clue. Before the totem pole they used the bird & arrow,
and the plane-name-wings mashup.
Between 1917 and 1931 were a few changes. In 1928 the name was changed to Boeing Airplane & Transport Corporation after
buying Pacific Air Transport. In 1929 the name became United Aircraft and Transport Corporation when they merged with
Pratt&Whitney and gobbled up Avion, Chance Vought, Stearman Aircraft, Sikorsky Aviation, and Hamilton Metalplane. Burp!
Just make all the airplanes, nope gonna fly ‘em too. Grab Stout Air Services, Varney Airlines, and National Air Transport,
smooshed them up with what they had and voila, 1931 birthed United Airlines.
But there was a depression going on so the government hit them with an anti-trust whammy in 1934.
That produced Boeing, United Aircraft (United Technologies), and United Airlines. Still three giants.

Boeing's currant troubles were predictable, at least to tw.
Phil Condit was a brilliant Engineer who got promoted to his level of incompetence as president then again to CEO.
Everyone knows CEOs can have all the pussy they want, but nobody told Phil you can’t be blatant. His wife came from
Seattle society so the divorce left him a pariah in Seattle. No problem, move the corporate headquarters to Chicago.
Boeing from the gitgo was an engineering based company, Engineers had the last word.
Now Chicago, 2000 miles from where the work gets done, was calling the shots, bean counters overruling the engineers.
Recipe for disaster just like tw has been telling you.