Bringing People Together
Milestones in 2006 included the Jan. 31 launch of the 737-700ER (Extended Range) and the Oct. 16 launch of the BBJ 3, based on the new 737-900ER, and the largest BBJ family member. On Sept. 1, the 737-900ER made its first flight. It entered service Feb. 16, 2007, with All Nippon Airways.
Boeing delivered the first Next-Generation 737 with enhanced short runway landing and takeoff capabilities in July 2006; the 737-800 design enhancements allow operators to fly increased payload in and out of airports with runways less than 5,000 feet long.
In addition, the world's longest-range commercial jetliner, the 777-200LR Worldliner, was certified by U.S. and European authorities to enter into passenger service with airlines around the world. It was first delivered Feb. 27, 2006, to Pakistan International Airlines.
Boeing made the Guinness World Records during 2006 with a mural installed on its main Everett, Wash., factory building, the home of the 747, 767, 777 and 787. The mural comprises more than 100,000 square feet of pressure-sensitive graphic film and is the largest digital graphic in the world on the largest building in the world by volume.
The first Boeing 747-400 Dreamlifter made its first flight on Sept. 9, 2006, and the second on Feb. 16, 2007. The enormous airplanes are used to transport major assemblies for the all-new Boeing 787 Dreamliner and, with its enlarged upper fuselage, can carry three times the cargo by volume of a standard 747-400 freighter.
On Jan. 22, 2007, Boeing and Lockheed Martin teamed up to promote advancement of the U.S. Next-Generation Air Transportation System, designed to develop ways to handle an anticipated threefold increase in air traffic by the year 2020.
The shape of airplanes to come took form as Boeing Phantom Works, NASA and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory developed a futuristic aircraft design called the blended wing body (BWB). Designated the X-48B, it made its first flight on July 20, 2007, taking off at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in California, climbing to 7,500 feet and landing 31 minutes later.
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