Future Recedes Year by Year As Boeing Pursues “B797” Green Light

To paraphrase F Scott Fitzgerald from the concluding page of the Great Gatsby “Boeing had come a long way and their dream must have seemed so close that they could hardly fail to grasp it. They did not know that it was already behind them…Boeing believes in the green light that is the B797, the future that year by year recedes before them. It eluded them then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow Boeing will fly higher and longer, stretching out their wings farther.... And one fine morning they may finally dare to hope that they will wake from the neo matrix. So Boeing beats on, forging airplanes against the headwind, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” As with all futures, a myriad of alternative outcomes are possible, boldness allowing the dream to become reality though ultimately risking certainty, while timidity may beget slumber once more.