Boeing's cunning plan is to unify sprawling design, production, and airline services operations under a single digital ecosystem -- in two years.

To be fair Boeing has made similar bold pledges on a digital revolution, with mixed results. But insiders say the overarching goals of improving quality and safety have taken on greater urgency and significance as the company tackles multiple threats.

Boeing needs to take steps to reassert its engineering dominance after the 737 MAX crisis, while laying the foundation for a future aircraft programme over the next decade.

It plans to spend $15 billion to prevent future manufacturing problems like the structural flaws that have waylaid its 787 Dreamliner over the past year.

Boeing's chief engineer, Greg Hyslop said: "We are talking about changing the way we work across the entire company."