SEATTLE – Boeing said on Thursday that it will close the original assembly line for its two-aisle 787 jet near Seattle and consolidate the plane’s production in South Carolina as the airline industry tries to resist the global pandemic.
The move will begin in mid-2021. The company plans to continue assembling other jets – the 737, 747, 767 and 777 – in the Seattle area.
“Consolidation into a single production site for the 787 in South Carolina will make us more competitive and efficient, better positioning Boeing to face these challenging times and win new business,” said Stan Deal, CEO of Boeing’s commercial aircraft business, to employees by email.
The company did not immediately say whether jobs would be eliminated with the move, but Rep. JT Wilcox, the Republican leader of the state House of Representatives, posted on Facebook after a call with the company that the decision would affect about 900 jobs in Washington State.
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it had a statewide workforce of more than 70,000 people before announcing in April that it was cutting 10% of its employees.
The 787 is mainly used for international routes. In 2003, Washington gave Boeing huge tax cuts – totaling about $ 100 million a year – to convince the company to assemble the plane in the state. Subsidies were lifted earlier this year after the World Trade Organization found them illegal.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee called Thursday’s decision on 787 production as “an insult” and said the state would have to review the tax incentives that Boeing continues to receive.
“I understand the serious market forces facing Boeing today,” said Inslee. “What I don’t understand is why the company cannot commit to restoring production here when the market for this plane improves.”
At an afternoon press conference, Inslee said he had several conversations with Boeing and they gave no indication of anything the state could do to keep production here.
“If you hear voices blaming regulations, taxes, transportation, training, I can say it’s bullshit. Because the Boeing company never suggested improvements that we could make, ”said Inslee.
However, the Democrat added: “We cannot be in a position where companies just dictate to us and just say ‘yes, sir’, and when they ask us to jump, we say ‘until what point’. We can not do that. It is not fair for our state. If anyone thinks that this causes division, I would suggest that he is responsible. “
Employees at the Boeing plant in Everett, Washington, began building the 787 in 2007, producing a jet with a fuselage made largely of carbon composite for better fuel efficiency.
The company had fuselages built in North Charleston, South Carolina, and then dispatched the country for assembly. In 2011, she opened a final 787 assembly line in South Carolina, choosing South Carolina largely for its anti-union culture, after strikes by Seattle area mechanics in 2005 and 2008.
“We are committed to helping Boeing – and companies large and small – to grow and prosper in our state,” South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster said on Thursday. “Today’s announcement is proof of our hardworking people and the fact that companies know they can succeed in the long term right here in South Carolina.”
Boeing announced this summer that it was considering combining all 787 production in one location, and the new South Carolina plant soon emerged as a favorite. Workers at Everett will continue to manufacture the smaller 787-8 and 787-9 models until the company reduces production to six 787s a month next year, the company said.
Washington state lawmakers and union officials said Boeing was wrong to abandon qualified employees who worked on the 787 in the state. Ray Goforth, executive director of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, said the union would “partner with community stakeholders to attract aerospace jobs to the state, promoting the aerospace talent pool that Boeing is moving away from”
Paul Shearon, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, called the decision “bad news for organized work”, saying “workers in South Carolina will be harnessed, and this will be used to reduce workers’ wages and benefits in the Seattle area. ”
In August, Boeing landed eight 787s after structural problems were found where the fuselage panels are joined in another company building in South Carolina. Shearon said incidents like this will undermine confidence in Boeing, which is already trying to recover. of two devastating accidents involving the smallest 737 Max.
“They need to build trust in the company and the product with the American public,” he said.
Democratic Representative Rick Larsen, whose district includes Everett, said he would struggle to bring production of the 787 back to Washington as soon as air travel recovered.
“The strength of the Pacific Northwest aviation and aerospace industry includes the region’s strong educational system, trained workforce, robust supply chain, extensive manufacturing experience and overall quality of life,” said Larsen. “We earned our place as leaders in the United States aerospace industry and will continue to do so.”