In a decision that’s a blow for Washington state — but not a surprise— Boeing has decided to assemble the largest Dreamliner solely in South Carolina.
This is the first step in a series of moves that could eventually make North Charleston, S.C. the dominant producer of the carbon composite 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
Gov. Jay Inslee’s office acknowledged the significance of the decision.
“We wished all Boeing work was done in Washington," Inslee said in an emailed statement Wednesday. "But today’s announcement that the 787-10 will be assembled in South Carolina is no surprise. In fact, our aerospace strategy anticipated this eventuality.”
Boeing on Wednesday announced the decision, saying that the key reason is that the 787-10’s 224-foot fuselage, 18 feet longer than the 787-9, is too long to be transported efficiently from North Charleston, where it is fabricated, to the assembly line in Everett.
The fuselages are moved aboard the huge 747-based Dreamlifter plane, and observers have long thought the 787-10 fuselage wouldn't fit easily.
“We looked at all our options and found the most efficient and effective solution is to build the 787-10 at Boeing South Carolina,” said Larry Loftis, vice president and general manager of the 787 program, in a statement. “This will allow us to balance 787 production across the North Charleston and Everett sites as we increase production rates.”
For Washington this means that Everett will only build 787-9s and 787-8s, while Charleston will build all three models. Assembly of the first 787-10 is to start in 2017.
"While we are not surprised, we are certainly disappointed to see Boeing make this decision," said Jon Holden, president of Machinists District Lodge 751. "Our members in Puget Sound have proven they are Boeing’s best choice for success to meet production, quality and delivery expectations on every airplane."
In the long run, this decision could mean only one 787 line in Washington and two in South Carolina.
That’s because, while Boeing is now building the 787 on two lines in Everett, one of them is temporary, called the “surge line,” and is expected to be converted to assembling the first 777X models.
Meanwhile the large and open-floor final assembly facility in North Charleston was designed from the beginning to house two parallel 787 lines. Currently the facility is running only one line there, in a U shape.
Everett is still producing most of the 787 Dreamliners at the current 10-planes-a-month rate.
But if North Charleston ends up with two lines versus Everett’s one, and if North Charleston workers are able to stabilize production, most of the Dreamliners will likely be built there instead.
“The Everett facility will continue to assemble seven airplanes per month,” said a Boeing release. “While Boeing South Carolina final assembly will gradually increase from three 787s per month today to five per month in 2016 and seven per month by the end of the decade.”
Everett workers have continued to be critical of the quality coming from South Carolina, but Boeing officials, after resorting to a special South Carolina incentive package earlier this year to get productivity up, sounded sanguine.
“We’re happy with our growth and success in South Carolina,” said Loftis. “The continued success at both sites gives us confidence in our plan going forward.”
Currently the 787-10 is the Dreamliner model least in demand, with 132 on order, versus 408 orders for the 787-9 and 329 for the 787-8.
Inslee’s office said the decision already had been factored into state strategy and projections.
“The decision has no impact on jobs here and doesn’t affect our outlook for growth in the aerospace industry,” the statement said. “Washington continues to be home to a growing percentage of Boeing’s nationwide employment, an acknowledgment of the expertise of our workforce.”