Over a century in the aerospace industry, Boeing has gone through many iterations. It began building primitive seaplanes in the early 20th century under the name Pacific Aero Products Co. – later famous Boeing Airplane Co. In 1961, the company dropped the qualifiers and changed its name to simply Boeing, in part because it was expanding into other arenas outside of aerospace.
Today, Boeing builds military aircraft, helicopters, spacecraft, rockets and more. Boeing also built the lunar rovers (lunar vehicles) that were driven by astronauts to the surface of the moon during the last three Apollo missions. Boeing is also, and has long been, the world’s largest producer of commercial aircraft.
Boeing is best known for designing and manufacturing aircraft, it is a name that is almost synonymous with airplanes, but it is also a massive company with hundreds of subsidiaries. Some are research and development operations, others build parts or manufacture software for navigation or defense, and others create rockets and spacecraft. Of course, some of Boeing’s subsidiaries are exactly what you’d expect, aerospace companies that do aerospace stuff. Here are five aviation companies you probably didn’t know were owned by Boeing.
Read more: 13 of the most beautiful planes of WWII
Insitu drone with wide area maritime search capability – Insitu
Autonomous or remotely operated aircraft, commonly referred to as drones or UAVs (short for unmanned aerial vehicles), have become commonplace in toy stores and hobby shops. You can get simple and affordable drones to fly in the backyard or more complex ones for racing, filmmaking and other activities. Meanwhile, there is another class of drones used for scientific research and military applications. These are the kinds of drones that Insitu makes.
The company was founded in 1994 with the goal of developing small robotic aircraft and achieved early milestones such as the first unmanned transatlantic flight in 1998. Insitu was acquired by Boeing in 2008 and today is a wholly owned subsidiary of Boeing, headquartered in Bingen, Washington.
While Boeing is primarily known for passenger aircraft, Insitu offers a range of UAVs, including the Integrator VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing), Extended Range Integrator, Integrator, ScanEagle VTOL, ScanEagle and RQ-21A. They can also be outfitted with payloads including cameras, laser guidance, wide area search tools and more.
Part of the fuselage in the Aero – Spirit AeroSystems factory
Spirit AeroSystems (not to be confused with Spirit Airlines) began as the Stearman Aircraft Company, founded by Lloyd Stearman, in the early 20th century. It was later acquired by the United Aircraft and Transport Company (later Boeing) in 1929.
The company makes airframes and other structures for passenger jets, including the Boeing 737 and 787. Spirit has a complicated history with Boeing, starting as part of the company, then breaking away and then coming back together. Spirit AeroSystems was formed in 2005 when Boeing sold facilities in Wichita, Tulsa and McAlester to Onex Corporation.
After splitting from Boeing in 2005, the company acquired parts of BAE Systems and supplied parts to Airbus, Mitsubishi, Rolls-Royce, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and others. In 2024, Boeing re-acquired the company, replicating it under the Boeing umbrella. Since its inception, Spirit has expanded well from Kansas to Europe, Asia and other parts of the world. Meanwhile, Spirit’s operations in Northern Ireland were spun off into a separate subsidiary known as Short Brothers, also owned by Boeing.
Wisk Aero Air Taxi Generation 6 – Wisk Aero
Wisk started as Zee Aero in 2010 with the aim of developing air taxis capable of flying autonomously with ground support. In 2019, Zee Aero merged with Boeing and was renamed Wisk Aero, although the company’s objective remained the same. “We’re building the foundation to make aviation even safer than it is today.” Wisk CEO Sébastien Vigneron in a promotional video. “By developing, testing and certifying an entirely new type of aircraft and system, we truly believe that autonomy will make aviation safer, more efficient and more accessible for everyone.”
The company’s vision is a fleet of four-passenger air taxis that operate as shared air-based transportation. Using an app, you’ll book a flight with one of Wisk’s air taxis for four people. Your information is then sent to a central unit where you are added to the passenger list for a scheduled flight.
Once at the airport, a ground crew completes a safety inspection of your aircraft, secures passengers and baggage, and you’re off. Ground crews monitor flights from takeoff to landing to ensure everything runs smoothly. The Generation 6 Wisk aircraft cruises at or above 2,500 feet and has a range of 90 miles. Wisk also combines sensors, cameras, radar, software and more to automate air traffic management, which could benefit conventional air travel alongside Wisk air taxis.
Aurora’s Prototype Passenger Air Vehicle – Aurora Flight Sciences
Aurora Flight Sciences (AFS) was founded by John S. Langford, an MIT graduate and manager of the university’s Daedalus project. The Daedalus was an experimental pedal-powered human-powered aircraft. Since then, the company has developed a range of crafts, both experimental and practical.
AFS’s first aircraft after Daedalus was the Perseus Proof-of-Concept, which made its first flight in 1991. It was remotely piloted and designed to conduct atmospheric research with a range of scientific payloads. A later iteration, known as Perseus B, set the record for the highest altitude flown by a single-engine, propeller-driven aircraft, flying at a maximum altitude of 60,620 feet.
Aurora also developed DARPA’s very high altitude, ultra-endurance theater unmanned reconnaissance element (VULTURE). VULTURE was designed to be a solar-powered aircraft capable of staying aloft for up to five years at a time, with an articulating Z-shaped wing structure that could keep the solar cells constantly pointed at the Sun. AFS also designed and built experimental craft for use in space and on Mars. Boeing acquired AFS in 2017 and the company is now under the Boeing Engineering, Test & Technology division.
McDonnell Douglas DC-9 Series 30 – Boeing
As a company, McDonnell Douglas is the result of various mergers and adaptations over more than a century. Before Boeing, what would eventually become McDonnell Douglas began as two separate aircraft companies, McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft Company.
Douglas was founded in 1921 and began by building a number of commercial and military aircraft, eventually supplying about one-sixth of the United States air fleet during World War II. After the end of the war and a shift to commercial aircraft, Douglas struggled financially and merged with McDonnell. Meanwhile, McDonnell Aircraft was founded in 1939 and developed the first fighter jets such as the F-4 Phantom and the A-4 Skyhawk, among others.
The two companies merged in 1967 to become McDonnell Douglas, a company with combined expertise in the production of aircraft, launch vehicles, missiles and more. Eventually, as the Cold War ended and the appetite for defense aircraft waned, McDonnell Douglas was acquired and transferred to Boeing in 1997.
Want the latest tech and automotive trends? Subscribe to our free newsletter for the latest headlines, expert guides and tips, one email at a time. You can also add us as a favorite search source on Google.
