the early 1970s, when two-thirds of the market vanished and combined production rates for the 707, 727, and 737 dropped to a mere four planes per month.

Steiner consolidated the manufacturing of all three single-aisle planes and managed to produce them at a profit. In 1973 he was appointed vice president of program operations for Boeing Commercial Airplane Company. Before his retirement in 1984, Steiner contributed to development of the 757 and 767 and was elected vice president of corporate product development.

In 1981 he was selected by the President’s science advisor as the sole industry participant in the White House Aeronautical Policy Study and went on to become chairman of the Aeronautical Policy Review Committee for the Office of the President of the United States. He retired from that position in 1990.

A brilliant engineer, Steiner worked on high-technology research involving aerodynamic efficiency of swept wings and total commercial and military configurations, structural efficiency and durability, propulsion integration, and computer-aided productivity improvement research in engineering and manufacturing. He was the tough point man for production and was quoted as saying, “If we don’t have a few problems, we’ll die of comfort.” He received numerous national and international awards, including fellowship in the Royal Aeronautical Society and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and was selected twice as Aviation Week’s “Man of the Year.” In 1978 he was honored as Alumnus Summa Laude Dignatus, the highest award the University of Washington bestows on a graduate.

His daughter Christine Schwager wrote: