Boeing is set to have a record year... donating to charity. The airframe builder plans to donate $48 million across 400 different charities, pushing its total donation this year to over $230 million USD.

Boeing 737 MAX, FAA, Airworthiness Certificate
Boeing will be giving $48 million to charity. Photo: Boeing

What are the details?

Boeing is planning to donate $48 million dollars to 404 charities and non-profit programs in over 50 countries. This funding is not just coming entirely from a lump donation, but also from company business contributions, their own employee's giving and the firm matching any employee donation.

"Boeing's people bring to life our values and our enduring commitment to supporting the communities where we live and work," said Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing President and CEO in the Boeing press release. "Through their close collaboration, our teams and community partners are working to inspire the next generation of aerospace innovators, support our veterans and create lasting change in the communities we call home."

Boeing 737 MAX takeoff
Boeing employees were concerned about setting a precedent for simulator training for 737 MAX pilots. Photo: Boeing

What will some of these donations go to fund?

One of these donations is $8 million USD for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education and 'workforce development programs'. Essentially, Boeing is donating to various institutions to ensure that its workforce (now numbering 150,000 across the world) has a robust pool of new recruits for further business expansion.

And these students are not just destined for Boeing, but for their airline customers as well. Boeing believes that there will be 804,000 new civil aviation pilots and 769,000 new maintenance technicians needed in the next 20 years as the industry grows.

A concrete example of their investment is spending $800,000 USD to launch the first Newton Flight Academy in Turkey. This is a special school that teaches STEM classes through the aviation space (teaching children essentially how a plane flies). Boeing has even donated three flight simulators for a permanent classroom on flight physics. Very lucky!

"At Boeing, we're committed helping students succeed. We want students to know that their future belongs to them—it has no boundaries," said Cheri Carter, vice president of Boeing Global Engagement. "We believe our success as innovators depends on everyone coming together to inspire the next generation to share in our aerospace advancements. That's why we're investing more than 50 percent of our philanthropic dollars to fund high-impact education programs in the U.S. and abroad."

Boeing 787
Boeing has also donated three flight simulators to a flight school in Turkey. Photo: Boeing

What about those other than students?

Outside of students, Boeing is also setting aside $10 million for veterans' recovery and rehabilitation programs, and helping them transition back into the workforce.

The military is one of Boeing's biggest customers and they want to ensure that they are taking care of those who fight on the front line. A full list of Boeing's grant partners can be found here.

Looking at their list, it seems to be that many of these programs are a roundabout way of ensuring that their customers or their future works are taken care of. We do praise the efforts of big industry leaders like Boeing to give back, but knowing how much money they make (and how it seems they might be cutting corners to earn it), you think they would be more generous.

What do you think? Is Boeing giving enough? Let us know in the comments.