Boeing discusses its FedEx research partnership

One April night in 1973, FedEx delivered its first packages. Five years later, the Memphis-based company placed an order for its first Boeing 737.

Now, FedEx and Boeing are building on that nearly four-decade-long relationship.

Boeing and FedEx Express — a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. — announced July 6 they would work together on Boeing’s next iteration of its ecoDemonstrator program.

“Boeing goes through a rigorous selection process to decide which technology to test on an upcoming ecoDemonstrator,” said Bret Jensen, spokesperson for Boeing. “Once we decide on the major technologies, then we decide which airplane platform would be best for testing. In this case, we needed a 777. FedEx graciously agreed to collaborate with us and provide the 777 Freighter for next year’s test.”

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