For Many Innovations, it's About Time

Ask anyone: What’s the one thing you wish you had more of? In 1747, Benjamin Franklin famously wrote, “Lost time is never found again,” capturing the essence of how people typically answer this question. What was true 250 years ago is still true today.

Saving time has been the driving factor in the aviation and aerospace industry since its inception. If you could just get into the air, you could get there faster! In 1938 the Boeing 307 Stratoliner became the first airplane to have a pressurized cabin. Not only could passengers fly more comfortably above the weather, but airlines could better keep to flight schedules. Nearly two decades later, the Boeing 707 would bring rise to the popularity of passenger jets that flew 600 mph and would transform the way the world traveled.

Fast-forward to recent years. At Boeing, we understand that travelers appreciate being able to save time by flying nonstop, or “point to point,” instead of changing airplanes at large hub airports. The 787 Dreamliner was designed with operating economics that enable long nonstop routes, saving time for passengers traveling between non-hub cities. Since it entered service in 2011, the 787 has connected more than 200 new city pairs and saved travelers countless hours.

The other obvious time-saving innovation is to fly faster. Along with Aerion Corp., we’re working on a next-generation sustainable supersonic aircraft that would fly 70 percent faster than today’s business jets, slicing three hours off a trans-Atlantic flight. We’re also working on the possibility of hypersonic air transport further into the future.

Our vision of future transportation includes revolutionary vehicles that complement our large airplanes – and that create new ways to save people time. We’re already accustomed to using our smartphones and watches to order goods that will be delivered to our homes in hours. Along with delivering the goods we order, these vehicles will also handle the important task of speeding life-saving medicines and supplies to the people in remote locations who need them.

The same is true of personal transportation in congested urban areas. Who wants to spend another hour in traffic? We are developing passenger air vehicles that will untie the traffic knot. Our Boeing NeXt team recently conducted the first flight test of an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) passenger air vehicle designed for this mission.

Time is the most important asset we have as human beings, and saving time is one of the most important problems that aviation can help solve. This has motivated our industry from the start and will continue to drive innovation in the future.