By Eric S. Warning and James Griffin
We have logged tens of thousands of hours in the air between us. We have spent decades flying aircraft, building careers defined by safety, operational excellence, and a deep love of aviation. But nothing we have done in our careers has felt quite like flying the Boeing 737 Freedom Plane.
As Boeing pilots, we had the privilege of serving as crew on the National Archives' "Freedom Plane National Tour: Documents That Forged a Nation." The Freedom Plane is inspired by the Bicentennial Freedom Train of 1976, which brought history to the American people ahead of our nation's 200th birthday. As we approach America's 250th anniversary on July 4, we are proud that Boeing is helping carry that tradition into a new era as a founding sponsor of this historic tour.
When the company was asked to provide the aircraft that would carry America's most precious documents across the country, there was no question it would be a Boeing 737, one of the most trusted and proven commercial jets ever built. A 737 takes off and lands every two seconds around the world, but this one has a mission unlike any other: bring nine original Founding-era documents from the National Archives to eight cities so that Americans can see, in person, the papers that helped create the greatest nation in history. Miami is the sixth stop on the tour, and Floridians have a rare opportunity they should not miss.
Until July 5, the Museum of Miami in downtown Miami will display documents that have never traveled together outside Washington, D.C.: an original William Stone engraving of the Declaration of Independence, George Washington's and Alexander Hamilton's Oaths of Allegiance, the Treaty of Paris that formally recognized American independence, a handwritten draft of the Constitution, and the Senate markup of what became the Bill of Rights.
Every time our team secures these documents for flight, we feel the weight of what we are carrying. Boeing has been a cornerstone of American aviation and manufacturing for more than a century, employing hundreds of thousands of Americans and building the aircraft that connect the world. It is fitting that a Boeing jet is the vessel chosen to carry the documents that first defined America. The Founders could not have imagined that 250 years later, their words would travel by jet from city to city, reaching communities of millions of Americans who might never make it to the National Archives. That is exactly what this tour is about.
Miami is the perfect stop. This is a city built by dreamers who came to America precisely because of what those documents promised. The ideals in the Declaration and the Constitution are not abstract here. They are lived every day by a community that knows firsthand what it means to seek freedom. Walking through this exhibition at the Museum of Miami is not just a history lesson; it is a reminder of why those promises still matter.
We fly for a living. We know what it means to carry something precious from one place to another. Boeing has spent more than 100 years building the aircraft that safely move people, goods, ideas, and now history itself across this great nation. This summer, we had the honor of carrying some of America's most valuable documents to Miami. We hope you will share in that experience.
Eric S. Warning is Assistant Chief Pilot of Standards for Boeing Executive Flight Operations. James Griffin is a 737 Captain with Boeing Executive Flight Operations. Both have served as crew on the Freedom Plane National Tour. More information is available at museumofmiami.org and freedomplane.org.
