{"id":29977,"date":"2020-09-30T16:15:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-30T23:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.redmond-reporter.com\/news\/boeing-will-end-787-dreamliner-production-in-everett\/"},"modified":"2020-09-30T16:31:46","modified_gmt":"2020-09-30T23:31:46","slug":"boeing-will-end-787-dreamliner-production-in-everett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.redmond-reporter.com\/news\/boeing-will-end-787-dreamliner-production-in-everett\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Boeing will end 787 Dreamliner production in Everett"},"content":{"rendered":"
EVERETT — A report that the Boeing Co. will stop building the 787 Dreamliner in Washington state and move production to South Carolina has angered state and local leaders who foresee thousands of job losses throughout Washington.<\/p>\n
Late Tuesday (Sept. 29), The Wall Street Journal reported that Boeing planned to end a shared production schedule that split manufacture of the twin-aisle airplane between the Everett assembly plant at Paine Field and Boeing’s factory in North Charleston, South Carolina.<\/p>\n
Gov. Jay Inslee said, if true, the disappointing decision could jeopardize as many as 1,000 jobs and force the state to review its long-term partnership with Boeing, which would include taking “a hard look at the company’s favorable tax treatment.”<\/p>\n
Boeing has received hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks<\/a> from Washington state since lawmakers authorized incentives in 2003.<\/p>\n It would also open the door for further aerospace layoffs in Snohomish County and beyond.<\/p>\n The Everett campus employed about 35,000 people in three shifts at the beginning of the year.<\/p>\n The Wall Street Journal did not provide a time frame for the move, but said Boeing could announce a decision on the 787 as soon as this week.<\/p>\n State and local officials called any decision to move production to South Carolina another blow to the region’s economy already reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n In a statement, Inslee said, “Boeing would be turning its back on the finest workers and the best place in the world to build airplanes,” in favor of an “allegiance to short-term profits and Wall Street — not quality, safety and a vision for the future of the industry.”<\/p>\n Boeing declined to comment Tuesday on the Wall Street Journal report. <\/a><\/p>\n In an email response for this story, Boeing spokeswoman Jessica Kowal repeated the company’s earlier statement.<\/p>\n “As we have said before,” Kowal wrote, “we will prudently evaluate the most efficient way to build airplanes, including studying the feasibility of consolidating 787 production in one location.<\/p>\n “We are engaging with our stakeholders, including the unions, as we conduct this study,” the company statement continued. “We will take into account a number of factors and keep an eye on future requirements as we think through the long-term health of our production system. Boeing remains committed to Washington state and South Carolina.”<\/p>\n Boeing officials met Sept. 30 with the president and other leaders of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751.<\/p>\n Larry Brown, President of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, and a former Boeing employee said in a statement that the council,“will continue to make the case that Washington remains the smart choice for its 787 assembly,” until Boeing makes a formal announcement.<\/p>\n “Because of the pandemic, the company is already experiencing a significant talent drain by laying off experienced Machinists and Engineers,” Brown said. “It would be a mistake to accelerate that loss of expertise by shifting production away from Washington.”<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Stephen Dickson, head of the Federal Aviation Administration, was at the former Boeing Field in Seattle on Wednesday for a test flight of the revamped 737 <\/a>Max<\/a>. The agency is considering whether to allow Boeing’s single-aisle jet to return to service after being grounded since March 2019, following two crashes that killed 346 <\/a>people<\/a>. Boeing hopes to win FAA approval later this year for changes it made to the plane’s flight control software, which contributed to the two crashes. .<\/p>\n