There were smiles all around at today’s launch of the 787-10. ALC Chairman and CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy (left) and Boeing Commercial Airplanes President & CEO Ray Conner celebrate.

Not only will this be the most efficient jetliner in history, it’s going to be a passenger favorite.

The 787-10 under a night sky.

We couldn’t have gotten to this point without our customers Air Lease Corporation (ALC), GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), International Airlines Group/British Airways, Singapore Airlines and United Airlines. We thank them for their support.

Here’s a look at models of the 787-10 featuring our customers.

During today’s event, I couldn’t help think about the first time I saw Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner help launch an airplane. It was early in my marketing career, and Ray was the sales director for Thai Airways at the time the airline launched the 777-300. It was a proud moment then— and another proud moment today.

I also want to thank Korean Air for their commitment to order five 747-8 Intercontinentals and six 777-300ERs. As I predicted, widebodies continue to dominate the headlines at Paris.

A 777-300ER and 747-8I in Korean Air livery.

I’ll leave you with a lovely photo I took this evening in Paris on the way to dinner— showing the French flag waving in the warm breeze under the Arc de Triomphe.

A warm night and comfortable stroll along the Champs-Élysées.

Stormy skies didn’t stop the air show— although some chalets took a power hit.

But sunny skies greeted the 787 for Air India as it took part in the afternoon flying display. It was a huge hit and the airplane looked spectacular.

Boeing photographer Ed Turner captured these photos from today’s flying display.

I’ve said this show is going to be all about the widebodies, and Day 1 lived up to that promise. GECAS became the second customer to make commitments for the 787-10X. The leasing company plans to buy 10 of the airplanes.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes President & CEO Ray Conner signs the papers with GECAS President and CEO Norman C.T. Liu.

Here’s a 787-10X in GECAS livery.

For those of you wondering about a potential 787-10X launch, I’ll just say “stay tuned.” We’re very engaged with our customers and get closer to a launch each day.

Qatar Airways also announced orders and commitments for 9 of our 777-300ERs. This is a huge testament to the popularity of this great airplane.

Our thanks to Qatar Airways for their confidence in the 777-300ER. Here’s Qatar CEO Akbar Al Baker and Boeing Commercial Airplanes President & CEO Ray Conner.

On the single-aisle side, the 737 MAX will soon be the cornerstone of one airline’s fleet renewal. Skymark Airlines in Japan announced their intention to buy the airplane.

Here’s a 737 MAX in Skymark livery.

After a barrage of media interviews, I found some time late in the day to go on board the brand new Qatar 787 that’s on static display. This airplane is the 60th Dreamliner we’ve delivered and the interior is just as impressive as you’d imagine.

On board the Qatar Airways 787.

I’m looking forward to a busy day tomorrow and sharing more with you then.

We’re excited to have this 787 on static display all week at the air show— as well as the 787 for Air India in the flying display.

Things officially kick off at Le Bourget tomorrow morning. I’ll be sharing a daily recap here on this blog— and be sure to follow our Twitter feed @BoeingAirplanes for real-time updates.

First off, let me congratulate our competitor on today’s achievement. A new airplane is something everyone in this industry can appreciate and celebrate.

We’re also excited about showing off not one, but two 787s during the air show. The Dreamliner for Air India will take part in the flying display next Monday through Friday.

A great day for a validation flight. This 787 for Air India gets ready for the Paris Air Show.

You’ve got to love those wings!

Nice paint job on the belly!

We’ll also be featuring a Qatar 787 on static display at the show. Combine these airplanes with all the buzz around the 787-10X and the 777X— it’s safe to say the widebodies will dominate the news.

Of course, I’ve had a little time to enjoy Paris itself. I’ll leave you with a couple of photos from two of my favorite places— a street market just down from the Arc de Triomphe— and a restaurant in the Saint Germain neighborhood that serves a great plate of cod.

You can smell the cheese from a block away.

The cod was perfect— and so was the rest of the meal.

It’s no surprise that single-aisle airplanes will once again lead the way. We see 24,670 deliveries in this segment. But there’s still a huge pent up demand for twin-aisle airplanes, with 8,590 forecasted deliveries.

The Asia-Pacific region, which includes China, will once again have the highest demand for new airplanes.

If there’s one word I’d used to characterize what’s driving this year’s forecast, it would be “efficiency.” After dealing with high fuel prices and a very competitive market, airlines are demanding airplanes with high efficiency, low operating costs, environmentally progressive technologies and a great passenger experience. We’re stepping up to meet those demands with products like the new 737 MAX, the 777-X and the 787-10X.

I invite you to log on to our website to check out the full details of our 2013 CMO, as well as the video below we filmed at our new Everett Delivery Center.

Now, all eyes are turned to next week’s Paris Air Show. I got quite a few chuckles from reporters who attended today’s CMO briefing as I talked about air show order expectations. I told them our competition always puts on a show for the home fans by rolling out a wave of orders—and we don’t expect that to change this year.

Speaking with one of the reporters who attended our CMO briefing in Paris.

The fact is, Boeing and Airbus have roughly split the market over the past decade. But you’d never know it from air show weeks during that period—where they outsold us two to one.

For Boeing, this show is about meeting with our customers and suppliers—while showcasing the capabilities of our products. We fully intend to do just that, while making things interesting along the way. See you from Le Bourget!

It’s been nice and cool in Paris this week— perfect for touring places like the Notre Dame Cathedral.

The seals show off their new home at the Seattle Aquarium.

Here’s me with the new exhibit in the background— a great atmosphere for the seals and the people who love them.

This year’s fundraising effort was dedicated to a new exhibit for the aquarium’s three harbor seals—led by the incredibly cute Barney. The new exhibit gives the seals more room to roam and play—and gives the public a much better look at these intelligent, gentle creatures. It’s really the crown jewel of the aquarium with a gorgeous view of Elliott Bay. I invite you to check out the great video below that shows how Barney and friends made the journey from their temporary home back to their cool new digs.

In addition to Boeing serving as title sponsor of the aquarium’s fundraiser, we also had dozens of Boeing employees who volunteered at the event— as well as giving hundreds of hours of their time to the aquarium over the course of the year. It’s just one example of the many ways our company and our employees give back to the communities we live and work in.

The 787 program got back to delivering airplanes—putting seven new Dreamliners into the hands of our customers. Two more customers, Thomson Airways and China Southern Airlines, received their first 787. And all of our 787 customers are flying again after the new battery system installations wrapped up.

The first 787 for Thomson Airways. I had the pleasure of being on the delivery flight.

The first 787 for China Southern arrives to a water cannon salute in Guangzhou.

The 747-8 team was also busy with four deliveries in May, including our milestone 50th delivery, an Intercontinental for Lufthansa.

Here’s the 50th 747-8 we delivered.

We also began certification tests on a package of performance improvements on the 747-8, including enhanced GE engines. This package will improve the fuel efficiency of the airplane another 1.8 percent. It’s just one of the ways we continue to invest in the 747-8 program and the airplane’s future.

This 747-8 Intercontinental begins testing our new performance improvement package.

Speaking of efficiency, that’s one of the main things driving our new market outlook this year. I’ll be sharing more thoughts on that in the coming days—and look forward to bringing you all the excitement from the Paris Air Show right here on this blog.

This side view shows the longer fuselage sections of the 787-9 in Everett. I saw the center section being prepared during a recent trip to South Carolina.

In what may be the coolest picture I’ve shared in a while, the first 787-9’s vertical stabilizer is sporting the new Boeing Commercial Airplanes livery, a refreshed look that started with the 747-8 and evolved with the 737 MAX.

Love the new look!

Our partners delivered the first 787-9 sections on or ahead of schedule—and major assembly is already taking place on the other flight test airplanes. By the way, we’ll build the first three 787-9s on our Temporary Surge Line in Everett for smoother integration of into the production system— while continuing to ramp up production across the 787 program.

Head-on view of the first 787-9.

First flight of the 787-9 is scheduled for the second half of 2013, with first delivery to launch customer Air New Zealand set for early 2014.

On Thursday, I took off from Paine Field in Everett on board the first 787 for Thomson Airways. The airplane is the first of eight 787s Thomson has on order—and is the first to be delivered to a UK airline.

Taking off from Everett— headed for Manchester. Gail Hanusa photo.

A great photo after landing in Manchester.

It was a fantastic flight and a warm welcome as we arrived in Manchester. Boeing has a long history with the UK and we’re proud to be celebrating 75 years of partnership this year.

Here’s me speaking with reporters after landing in Manchester.

Meanwhile, China Southern Airlines took delivery of its first 787. They become the first Chinese airline to take delivery of the Dreamliner. It’s the first of 10 Dreamliners for the airline.

China Southern celebrates the delivery of its first 787.

We’re thrilled to welcome these two airlines to the 787 family fleet and look forward to putting these beautiful airplanes into the hands of more and more customers.

Six of our eight in-service customers have returned to passenger service, with the others following in just a matter of days. We can’t thank all of them enough for their patience, partnership and support over the past several months.

I’d also like to thank our AOG (Aircraft On Ground) teams that fanned out across the globe to complete this work. It was truly an integrated effort across all of Boeing— involving engineering, development, fabrication, supply chain management, regulatory and repair services.

Boeing AOG teams at work.

Here’s me checking out some of the battery installation work during my time in Ethiopia last month.

I saw firsthand the work being done in the days before Ethiopian Airlines became the first 787 operator to resume service. It was a great effort by all involved.

The Dreamliner fleet will continue to be monitored by our 787 Operations Center in Everett, ensuring the fleet’s reliability and supporting ongoing maintenance.

The wings for the first 787-9, from our partner MHI. Matthew Thompson photo.

I also wanted to share a picture of the flight deck for the first 787-9, also known as Section 41 of the airplane. As part of the production process, our friends at Spirit recently powered up Section 41.

The team at Spirit powered up the first 787-9 flight deck recently in Wichita, Kan. Photo courtesy of Spirit Aerosystems.

It’s great to know the wings and other sections will soon be taking shape for the 787-9 as the airplane moves toward first flight later this year.

The 737 MAX 7 in Southwest livery.

Southwest’s announcement brings our total number of MAX orders to 1,315. That includes this week’s new order from Turkish Airlines for 40 MAX 8s and 10 MAX 9s.

As more airlines begin to modernize and expand their fleets, we’re proud they’re choosing the 737 MAX. For example, the MAX 7 will extend the range over today’s 737-700 by approximately 400 nautical miles. The MAX program continues to track toward firm configuration by the middle of this year and we’re excited about the progress. Our focus remains on building the very best single-aisle airplane for our customers and their passengers.

787 Line Number 83 for ANA being prepped for delivery earlier this week. Photo by Patrick Rodwell.

Line 83 is seen here during a previous test flight. Photo by Tim Stake.

The health of our 787 factories in Everett and North Charleston has never been better or more efficient. And despite the disruption in deliveries over the past several months, we still expect to deliver all the 787s we originally planned to by the end of the year. We once again thank our customers for their patience and confidence as we begin delivering on our commitments.