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EVERETT, Wash.–– Boeing Co. BA -4.65% ’s safety chief said changes under way at the plane maker following two 737 MAX crashes should prevent engineers from designing another automated cockpit system without sufficient safeguards. Mike Delaney, the company’s chief aerospace safety officer, said the changes were part of a long-term push to improve how the plane maker addresses engineering and safety three…

The Boeing Starliner preparing to dock at the International Space Station on Friday. Photo: NASA/Associated Press…

A Boeingspacecraft blasted into orbit and began racing toward the International Space Station, despite facing an issue with two of the thrusters the vehicle uses. After months of delays, the Starliner spacecraft launched toward orbit shortly before 7 p.m. Eastern time Thursday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida without crew members on board, according to a National Aeronautics and Space Administration live stream. The vehicle is expected to fly to the space station and dock there Friday, before it returns to Earth…

After months of delays, the company’s Starliner spacecraft is scheduled to be blasted into orbit at 6:54 p.m. Eastern time Thursday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida without crew members on board, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The vehicle is expected to fly to the International Space Station and dock there Friday, before it returns to Earth several days later. The Starliner—a gumdrop-shaped vehicle with room for seven people—so far hasn’t been able to complete a test mission to the…

LONDON— Boeing Co. BA -4.95% won a key order for 737 MAX aircraft from the owner of British Airways, ICAGY -3.21% in a boost for the plane maker after losing a series of sales from longtime customers to rival Airbus EADSY -3.15% SE. International Consolidated Airlines Group SA, which owns airlines including BA, Ireland’s Aer Lingus…

Flight data indicates someone in the cockpit intentionally crashed a China Eastern jet earlier this year, according to people familiar with U.S. officials’ preliminary assessment of what led to the accident. The Boeing 737-800 was cruising at high altitude when it suddenly pitched into a near-vertical descent, plummeting into a mountain at extreme speed. Data from a black box recovered in the crash suggests inputs to the controls pushed the plane into the fatal dive, these people said.…

LONDON—The chief executive of Ryanair Holdings PLC, one of Boeing biggest customers, took aim at the planemaker’s sales team and its 737 MAX delivery schedule and said the company needed to reboot its commercial-aircraft division.Michael O’Learyalso questioned Boeing’s pending shift of its headquarters from Chicago to Virginia. While the move “may be good for the defense side of the business, it doesn’t fix the fundamental underlying problems on the civilian aircraft side in Seattle,” Mr. O’Leary told analysts on a…

Southwest Airlines Co. LUV -2.05% played a bigger behind-the-scenes role in developing early Boeing BA -4.58% 737 MAX pilot training than previously known, according to a recent legal filing that cites internal Southwest and Boeing company documents.During the development of 737 MAX training, the carrier agreed with Boeing to remove from pilot manuals references to a version of the automated flight-control system that…