The latest Boeing Co. 787, manufactured in Everett, Wash., Has left the production line, making North Charleston the only place where the Dreamliner is assembled.
The aircraft maker announced consolidation in October, citing its need to cut costs after the COVID-19 pandemic nearly paralyzed the air travel industry.
At the time, the company said the transition would take place in mid-2021. But that was before inspections of production failures in the 787s increased and aircraft deliveries stopped altogether.
At the end of last year, Boeing South Carolina said the consolidation plan was postponed to March, but the 787s would not disappear from Everett. Although no new Dreamliners were assembled in the Seattle area, all 787s previously completed would continue to be inspected, reworked as needed and delivered to customers there.
A 787 by Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways was the last to leave the Everett plant on February 26, marking what Washington state officials described as a disappointment and an insult when the decision to shut down the line was made official in the fall.
About 900 employees from the Puget Sound region work on the 787 program.
Boeing said in a statement that these workers “played a key role in the success of the program from the beginning”.
Boeing chose Everett in 2003 for its original 787 assembly line. The program began with an order for 50 new planes for All Nippon Airways, the same airline for which the last plane manufactured in Everett is destined.
Boeing’s final assembly facility in North Charleston (above) is now the only site to build the 787 Dreamliner. Archive / Grace Beahm Alford / Staff
North Charleston’s involvement with the Dreamliner began in 2004, when Dallas-based Vought Aircraft Industries and Italy’s Alenia Aeronautica formed a joint venture to build 787 fuselages near Charleston International Airport.
Boeing ended up acquiring the North Charleston operation in 2009 and, later that year, announced that it would open a second final assembly site for the Dreamliner near International Boulevard. Boeing opened in November, and the first 787 entirely manufactured in South Carolina was delivered to Air India in 2012.
The program was on track to deliver its 1,000th Dreamliner in 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic set in. A Singapore Airlines 787 jet decorated with a “thousandth” decal was seen on test flights last spring. That plane was also seen sitting around last month, as deliveries remain suspended.
A new 787 has not been delivered since October.
As Boeing continues to inspect Dreamliners for flaws that involve variations in the flatness of the fuselage skin, it is unclear when the dozens of 787s in stock will begin to be discharged.
A Reuters report of February 25 citing unspecified industry sources suggested that repair costs resulting from production problems could cost the aircraft manufacturer “millions – if not billions – of dollars”, and rework on affected jets could take up to a year. month per aircraft.
With the assembly work over, Everett’s 787 workers will work on inspections in progress for Dreamliners made in Washington state.
North Charleston will conduct inspections and maintain a reduced monthly fee of five new 787s per month.
Boeing said it expects to work with the vast majority of the 787s in stock by the end of this year.
The plane maker has not outlined any plans to bring the work of the 787 back to Everett. When CEO Dave Calhoun first revealed last year that closing a line was at stake, he said one of the critical elements of the study was whether a single location could sustain higher monthly production, as demand for widebody jet was recovered after the pandemic.
In the meantime, the aftermath of COVID-19 reduced the number of jobs at the Boeing unit in South Carolina. On January 1, the company reported having 5,706 workers at various locations in North Charleston, a 17 percent decline from the previous year. last year.