Ending the frustration

The engineering work environment at Commercial Airplanes didn't get to where it is overnight.

Try 50 years.

The company had conducted 13 studies since 1952 to understand better how to match engineering employee skills and interests with work that is meaningful and challenging.

When Engineering and Product Integrity Vice President Hank Queen set out to address the concerns two years ago, he didn't need a 14th study.

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777 employees work smarter

After 15 years of building wide-body airplanes, Tom Stake never thought he'd be sitting down on the job. But that's exactly what he's doing.

As a mechanic in the final body join area of the 777 factory — where the three major sections of the airplane are joined together — Stake spends most of his shift bent under the airplane's wing installing the leading edge. As he completes one section he moves along the edge of the 80-foot wing, gradually becoming more and more hunched over because the floor is slanted at a 7.5-degree angle.

That was until he got a special adjustable "pogo" stool with a sand-filled base.

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Now leaving Gate 4: scheduled BBJ service

Low-fare, no-frills airlines are the darlings of the aviation industry these days. They are popular, profitable and sprouting up everywhere from Australia to Germany. Ninety-seven percent of these carriers fly the Boeing 737 exclusively.

Now, the same airplane that has proven so successful for low-fare airlines has filled a new role at the opposite end of the spectrum — namely, on regularly-scheduled flights for business-class travelers who want the comfort of a corporate jet, such as the Boeing Business Jet.

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