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Boeing to Move All 787 Dreamliner Production to South Carolina

Soumis
 
Boeing Co. will set plans this week to consolidate 787 Dreamliner assembly in South Carolina, people familiar with the matter said, ending production of that jetliner in Washington state as the coronavirus pandemic saps demand for aircraft. (www.wsj.com) Plus d'info...

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djjamar
Jamar Jackson 31
Running from unions
EtienneDaniels
Etienne Daniels -1
You are still lucky, in Europe they move the whole production to China if the labor unions start to get to demanding :)
bentley77
david harris 33
WRONG MOVE BY BOEING SINCE CUSTOMERS ARE ALLREADY COMPLAINING ABOUT 787S COMING FROM THE SC PLANT
pkslayton
If the difficulties in SC are due to a talent shortage, seems to me that Boeing just found some available talent.
airuphere
airuphere -1
Yup. So many manufacturing issues out of there. Guessing the unions couldn’t make any concessions so they ran?

Unless they’re making room for a new line ? No news of Everett downsizing is there?
Boeing757RB211
Bruno Coimbra 18
I mean they are a Massive company with people specifically working to make decisions like these BUT from the outside looking in,,,, Yeah..... that doesn’t sound like the BEST plan, at all considering some of the issues they have been having at the SC Plant in the past and lately.
picturetaker
Christian Parada 13
I wonder if they would still be having these issues if they never moved their headquarters to Chicago.
jdriskell
James Driskell 8
Good question. If I remember correctly, the CEO at the time of the move got canned as a result of some shenanigans between DOD and the KC-46. It made no sense to move away from the center of manufacturing into some glass tower in the mid west.
williambaker08
william baker 2
Isnt United in the same tower as Boeing??
ShaanA
No, United is in the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower). Boeing has its own separate building a few blocks away
airuphere
airuphere 0
Yeah, and they have shares in the giant maintenance facility there. Probably wanted to consolidate the white collar and got a deal of taxes.
yjamesy00
James Y 1
The large majority of BCA engineering and technical staff is still in the PNW. Some design centers activity in SoCal and in South Carolina. The Chicago HQ types are all corporate support like HR, Finance, Legal, etc,

The State of Washington gave Boeing many tax subsidies to retain manufacturing in WA. For the good that this did in retaining work in WA.
mbrews
mbrews 1
- James seems to prefer TLA s. TLA = Three Letter Acronym FLA = Four Letter Acronym ( or does it mean Florida or Full Load Amperes to electricians ?)

Boeing HQ just classified many Seattle folks as PNW - Persons Not Working
paulgilpin1953
paul gilpin 1
you are correct about the tax breaks, which should be expiring any day now.
as for the move, they wanted to be closer to their daddy on wall street.
ssobol
Stefan Sobol 1
No, it was just plain old shenanigans with a staff member.

A different Boeing exec got in trouble for the KC-46 thing. I believe that some people ended in prison for that one.
jdriskell
James Driskell 1
Well, shenanigans are shenanigans, whether it's with someone or with the bidding process. I'm sorry to say that it sounds like Boeing might have lost its way.
Airons
Allen Irons 0
What about Dallas, it was one of the choices.
KicksOnRoute66
Roger Anderson 19
Yuge mistake
TiredTom
Tom Bruce 6
wages? unions? or the political atmosphere in Seattle-Washington? South California used to be the center of aviation... Lockheed-Douglas-Convair-Northrup-North American- Northrup has a plant still there...some stuff out in Palmdale-military... but all the rest gone... too many mandates-regulations-laws in Cali... Air Force got out, too... too expensive ... McClellan-Mather-Castle-George-Norton-March...
boughbw
boughbw 3
It makes business sense. Boeing will have to address the quality issues in Charleston or shut down the plant and write it off as a loss. This keeps the facility running at a higher level of production.
With any luck, maybe that 787 line will be converted to making a 757 successor. Admittedly, that is a future development at best.
If Boeing can't reform the production issues in Charleston, it will bespeak a larger problem with the company that dealing with the MAX crisis hasn't addressed, much less resolved. I wish them luck. Here's to hoping it is that 757 replacement.
upchucked
C. WESLEY GRADY 12
Workers in North Charleston are paid roughly 50% of those in Everett, and the quality shows. It is widely known that planes built in South Carolina are then flown to Everett for a post-built inspection, and repair. The workers in South Carolina were made aware of the wage discrepancy during a unionization move last year, and the workers rejected the unions, satisfied that Boeing would "take care of them" ...... and those are the people building the planes your family will ride on. And, I now live in South Carolina, less than 2 hours from the North Charleston Plant.
mduralia
Mike Duralia 1
So what is the pay in WA?
user3956
user3956 1
100% more than SC per his statement.
mduralia
Mike Duralia 1
Thanks for that Shirley...
mbrews
mbrews 5
- other major issues concerning the consolidation of 787 assembly

One is , the largest composite barrel, for rear of the 787-10 variant gets produced at Charleston, and the barrel is simply TOO LONG to fit inside the 747 Dreamlifters that Boeing uses to shuttle large parts to Everett. Thus, the 787-10 gets exclusively assembled at CHS.

Second is : the remaining 787 backlog contains a large percentage of orders for the 787-10 . Boeing can't close CHS without cancelling or re-negotiating the 787-10 orders. Everett can keep making large Aluminum aircraft. CHS will make large composite aircraft. Not my decision, but that's how it shapes up
pjtemplin
Pete Templin 3
The barrel is not too long to fit inside the Dreamlifters. It's too long to meet FAA rules on the size of individual cargo pieces inside an aircraft. Still nets the same result, but if they were in a position to negotiate, they could get the rule changed.
mbrews
mbrews 3
- Thanks for clarification re: shipping largest barrels. I don't think Boeing managers want to keep two 787 assembly sites. The determining factor will be overall production costs$ for the (dwindling) 787 backlog, which favors Charleston.

Side topic - if you review the many hopscotched Dreamlifter movements, Japan-Everett-Charleston-Italy, (and vice versa), shows us the long haul flows of big composite parts.

The Dreamlifter fleet is being worked heavily; wonder what's the Boeing longer term strategy to maintain or expand those modified 747s. By contrast, the Airbus Beluga fleet is being expanded to perhaps 6 airframes. Belugas see more cycles, since they operate intra-Europe (1 to 2 hour long hops), not intercontinental like Dreamlifters.
cnyflyboy
We all know the old saying: You get what you pay for!
user3956
user3956 1
YES! Thank You! Having cheaper labor build airplanes I ride on is in the same bucket as paying for cheap dental or medical work in my opinion. Since when is cheaper better? SC has already shown what those people working there think is quality... this is a horrible move.
esu589
Joseph Sede 5
Maybe they don't feel "safe" in Seattle.
PDLanum
Philip Lanum 0
Please get a map. Everett is not "in" Seattle. I know people who live in Everett who rarely travel to Seattle, they usually go there because SEA/KSEA is SOUTH of Seattle.
canuck44
canuck44 5
Themoney they save from getting rid of multiple unions and loony politicians needs in part to be invested in their SC quality. This might finally be a correct corporate decision after they moved their HQ to Chicago instead of Texas.
gdaley
Greg Daley 13
Dream on. 5% for quality and 95% for executive bonuses and stock buybacks.
airuphere
airuphere 2
Hopefully they invest in a scrub to actually check for tools and trash left aboard.
TangoChuck
Tom Cox 3
The people of Washington can thanks a whole slew of liberal politicians for this and other moves to come. Start with Jay Inslee and work your way through the Democrat run legislator, up and down the I-5 corridor, libs through their counties and into Seattle, it’s mayor and city council.
kevpnw
Kevin Toovey -1
Please tell us more about how liberal policies in Washington contributed to this?
cougvere
cougvere 3
The B&O tax to start. Regional transit taxes that will produce no increase in transit capabilities. The head tax that has started in Seattle and will soon infect surrounding cities like Everett. NO tax incentives to stay or further develop manufacturing here. Sales tax that continue to increase with the discussion of adding an income tax. The list goes on.
wiregold
wiregold -3
It was a combination of greed by the union and greed by Boeing.
One more reason to not fly Boeing. The company is corrupt.
floydflys09b
Floyd Taber 2
Boeing has a huge Corporate Image failure going on. They have this attitude we are to big to fail. At the rate Boring is going they will be making plastic utensils before long!
JJ7
JJ Johnson 0
Washington State like California is a devolving dystopian Marxist hell hole don't blame them at all. You can live much better in South Carolina the employee dollar and company dollar will go much further than you can in Washington State plus the politics in Washington State have gone off the rails excessive taxes and inflated labor costs. Plus the weather is much better in South Carolina. Very positive decision. This pandemic will end soon and the airline business will surge again. Very good planning.
boughbw
boughbw -4
Yes. The scourge of paying employees decent wages with good benefits is out of control. If it weren't for Boeing, Microsoft, Amazon, Costco, Starbucks, Eddie Bauer, Alaska Air, Tableau, Concur, and dozens of other high-tech industries and support companies, Washington would truly be a hellhole. California, too. I mean, just because 1/5 Americans live on the West Coast is probably just because they can't get work elsewhere. And who doesn't love the humidity and low educational attainment of South Carolina compared with the per capita highest educated area in the country in and around Everett and Renton combined with mild weather year-round?
wiregold
wiregold 1
And don't forget all that tap water with friggin' 15 ppm TDS ... it tastes like it fell straight out of the sky.
user3956
user3956 0
Everything you just said. I'd trade Washington weather over SC weather any day of the week. I think a lot of these people talking about the weather in SC haven't ever actually lived there during the humid heat of the summer. I have. It's horrible. In heavily trafficked intersections you can see where turning cars have actually pushed the pavement into ripples because it's pliable in the SC heat.
briansfreeman
Brian Freeman 1
Running from anarchy and poor governance. Washington state is an ever-growing dumpster fire.
bdjam
Brian James 1
Considering the quality issues are all coming out of South Carolina, one must wonder why Boeing is trying to ruin their own business.
328thBS
Eric Dillinger 2
The USAF twice (if I remember correctly) stopped delivery of KC-46s because of lack of quality control. As far as I know, no work on the KC-45 happens in SC.
airuphere
airuphere 1
They have too many 737 parked in Seattle need more space... kidding. Horrible news. Wrong move.
bingobanner
Russ Brown 1
Bean counter revenge.
john181818
John Steiner 1
How many things can Boeing screw up in a 5-year period? I will be looking for Airbus airlines going forward. The adage of if it isn't Boeing it isn't going is dead.
williamgambel816
William Gambel -6
Shrewd move by MGMT! The political landscape in the PNW is off the rails! Self inflicted poverty created by liberal leadership
bkoskie
Billy Koskie -4
If quality produced is as excellent as it must be, it will be a good business decision.
airuphere
airuphere 2
It’s not. Research manufacturing defects and close out errors on KC, and other SC products.
bentley77
david harris -3
THEY NEED TO MOVE THE HDQ BACK TO THE SEATTLE AREA SEATTLE HAS NUMEROUS NEW INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS NOW PLUS ILLINOIS HAS HIGHER TAXES THAN WASHINGTON I BELIEVE PLUS SEATTLE IS A MUCH SAFER CITY THAN CHICAGO

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