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Boeing to consolidate 787 production in South Carolina


October 13, 2020  By Wings Staff

The Boeing Company expects to consolidate production of 787 jets at its facility in North Charleston, South Carolina, starting in mid-2021. The company explains this decision was made to preserve liquidity and reposition certain lines of business given the current global business environment.

“The Boeing 787 is the tremendous success it is today thanks to our great teammates in Everett. They helped give birth to an airplane that changed how airlines and passengers want to fly,” said Stan Deal, president and chief executive officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Deal states consolidating the production of the 787 in South Carolina is being done to ensure the long-term success of the program as Boeing customers manage business during the unprecedented global pandemic.

“Our team in Puget Sound will continue to focus on efficiently building our 737, 747, 767 and 777 airplane families,” added Deal, “and both sites will drive Boeing initiatives to further enhance safety, quality, and operational excellence.”

Boeing began assembling 787-8 and 787-9 airplanes at its Everett site in 2007; and brought the North Charleston facility on line as a second final assembly line in 2010. Boeing notes, however, only the North Charleston site is set up to build the larger 787-10 model. Production of the smaller 787 models will continue in Everett until the program transitions to the previously announced production rate of six airplanes a month in 2021.

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In July, Boeing announced an in-depth study into the feasibility of producing 787s at a single location. The company describes the 787 study as being part of an enterprise review underway to reassess all aspects of Boeing’s facility footprint, organizational structure, portfolio and investment mix, and supply chain health and stability.

“We recognize that production decisions can impact our teammates, industry and our community partners,” said Deal. “We extensively evaluated every aspect of the program and engaged with our stakeholders on how we can best partner moving forward. These efforts will further refine 787 production and enhance the airplane’s value proposition.”

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