John Edward “Jack” Steiner, the father of the 727, joined Boeing in 1941. His energy and hard work were renowned. Those qualities drove him, during his time in charge of aerodynamics on design of the 707, his role with the 727, and as the 737’s chief engineer. They also served him when he was general manager of the 707/ 727/ 737 Division. In that job he saw the company through one of its bleakest periods. During the early 1970s, combined production rates for those models dropped to just four per month. Steiner led consolidation of manufacturing of all three single aisle planes, and managed to profitably produce them. He was a tough point man on production, quoted as saying, "If we don't have a few problems we'll die of comfort."