To those who've been paying attention, news that Boeing beat Wall St. expectations in Q4 isn't really news. George Will wrote a column a couple detailing one of the largest reasons for Boeing's big turn around in the last couple years: the bungling incompetence of its major competitor, Airbus. And Thomas Lifson, the editor of the American Thinker who follows the aviation industry quite closely, has more on Airbus's annus horribilis today on RCP.

On a more personal note, having grown up in Seattle I can tell you that few people understand how vitally important Boeing has been and remains for the local economy.

I was born in 1969, right in the middle of what was known as the "Boeing Bust," a four year period in which the company shed some 62,000 plus jobs. As you would expect, it was a disaster that nearly killed the economy and a devastating blow to the the morale of the city. The bleakness of the time was immortalized by the 1971 billboard near Sea-Tac airport pictured to the right.

Years later, I still remember my third grade teacher asking us if anyone in their family worked at Boeing. More than half the hands in the class went up.

In my case it was my uncle, who supervised the construction/assembly of wings for the 737 at the plant in Everett. In high-school he took my dad and I on a guided tour of the plant which is so massive that being inside it creates a surreal, Alice in Wonderland effect.

Workers rode bicycles (with baskets on the front to carry papers, etc) to get from one place to another while a few golf carts buzzed around the facility. In one area workers sat high atop a scaffolding-like structure putting in rivets, in another they were laying the almost incomprehensible lengths of electrical wire that go into the guts of a modern aircraft. Most amazing of all was the area where they were stress testing the wings. I'll never forget the sight of a full size 737 with each wing pulled up so high by thick cables coming out of plant's ceiling that they looked like should have snapped clean off. That memory has given me great comfort over the years as I've looked out the window of an airplane I was riding on to see its wing bobbing and bouncing furiously through turbulence.

Needless to say, I've got a bit of a soft spot for Boeing. It's nice to see a great American company flying high again.