Seconda FAL B787 a Charlestone

[FAS]

Negli stabilimenti Boeing South Caroline non ci sono sindacati forti. E le ore di lavoro sono meno pagate che nello Stato di Washington. A quando una FAL Boeing in Messico? (Airbus si é giá insediata in Cina)

tratto da:
http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-102809- ... 8808.story


EVERETT - Boeing will build it second 787 assembly line in Charleston, South Carolina and not Everett where it has built planes for years.

The announcement wasn't entirely unexpected but that didn't make it any easier to hear. Boeing is taking its second 787 Dreamliner assembly line elsewhere.

This decision was a long time coming.

There were meetings in western Washington, in South Carolina and at the Federal level in Washington, D.C.

The hope was the second line and a lot more jobs would stay in Everett but it didn't happen that way.

It is a big loss for Washington State. A loss, it seems, Governor Chris Gregoire couldn't help but take personally. She said; "This is obviously a disappointing day for Washington State and for Snohomish County. We did all we could to show that Washington is the best place in America to build airplanes."

Meanwhile, in Charleston and in the State Senate Chamber there was celebration.

On South Caroline State Senator said; "I believe what happened here today will change our state forever, for generations. What a great day. Every one of us should rejoice about it."

Boeing had looked at a number of cities for the 2nd Dreamliner assembly line. It whittled the list down to two a week ago and the home team lost out.

Workers on the assembly line in Everett, don't like it one bit.

Boeing Machinist Bobbi Skar says; "Oh well that's the way it is. We just have to live with it. I feel bad for Boeing employees here in our area. It shows that Boeing doesn't respect us and the quality of work we do."

In exchange for a big package of incentives, Boeing will make a 750 million dollar investment in South Carolina and provide nearly 4-thousand jobs over seven years.

Here's what's next: groundbreaking in Charleston in just a matter of weeks.

Boeing Spokesman Russ Young says; "We anticipate the factory ready for use in 2011. First airplane to deliver in 2012 and we intend to be at ten 787s a month by the end of 2013."

In spite of her disappointment, by phone today Senator Patty Murray seemed optimistic about the future,

Murray sys; "We will continue to be strong in the aerospace industry and I don't want us to lose sight of that today." When young says ten planes a month by 2013, he means seven of those built here in Everett and three a month in Charleston.

Charleston could eventually build more as that plant ramps up to full capacity.

--Earlier Reports--

Boeing Co. will open a second assembly line for its long-delayed 787 jetliner in South Carolina, expanding beyond its longtime manufacturing base in Washington state to take advantage of economic incentives and a nonunion work force.

The Chicago-based airplane maker said Wednesday it chose the site in North Charleston over Everett, Wash., because it best suited plans to boost production of the highly anticipated jet, designed to carry up to 250 passengers.

EVERETT - The decision ended an interstate competition for the huge factory, with South Carolina prevailing over the state where Boeing has built airplanes for decades. It hands South Carolina production of a plane crucial to Boeing's future but one plagued by problems stemming partly from the company's reliance on suppliers spanning the globe.

South Carolina offered Boeing $170 million in incentives and relief from sales taxes on things like fuel used in test flights.

The move wasn't entirely unexpected. Boeing already operates a factory in North Charleston that makes 787 parts and owns a 50-percent stake in another plant that also produces sections of the plane, Boeing's best-selling new aircraft to date.

About 55 airlines have ordered some 840 of the planes since the program was launched in 2003 - far more than any other Boeing plane at the same stage of development.

Boeing also has long complained about the business climate in Washington and frequent strikes by production workers. At Boeing's plant in North Charleston, workers last month voted against continued representation by the International Association of Machinists.

North Carolina, Kansas, Texas and California were also viewed a competitors for the plant. But Boeing said last week it had narrowed the choices to Washington and South Carolina.

Boeing ultimately could decide to move all 787 production away from Everett, said analyst Scott Hamilton of Leeham Co. The failure of Boeing and the union to reach a no-strike agreement meant Charleston was "a foregone conclusion."

More ominously, Boeing is expected to decide in three to five years on replacement planes for its best-selling 737 and 777 models and where they will be built.

"Over the course of the next decade and-a-half you could see Boeing being just a shadow of itself here," he said, referring to Washington.

Everett is the site of Boeing's commercial aircraft division, where the company has assembled early versions of the 787. Last year, a walkout by union machinists there and at other sites in Washington forced the company to shut its commercial plane operations for eight weeks.

Unlike Boeing's other commercial jets, the 787 will be built mostly from lightweight carbon composite parts instead of aluminum. As a result, the 787 will be more efficient, quieter and have lower emissions than other airplanes, Boeing says. The mid-size plane will include wider seats and aisles, and larger windows.

Boeing has relied on suppliers to build huge sections of the plane that are later assembled in Everett. But that approach so far has proved problematic, with ill-fitting parts and other glitches hampering production.

Boeing has postponed the plane's inaugural test flight and deliveries five times, putting it more than two years behind schedule. The delays have cost Boeing credibility and billions of dollars in anticipated costs and penalties.

The company could break ground in South Carolina as soon as next month, with the first 787 slated to leave the factory in the first quarter of 2012. The company aims to produce 10 of the planes a month by 2013. By comparison, it makes about 31 of its 737s and seven of its popular 777s a month.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford called the plant a "monumental" investment that will spur the state's already-growing aerospace hub.

In Washington, meanwhile, Gov. Chris Gregoire said she and other officials would work hard to land future, larger Boeing projects.

She said the decision came down to Boeing's rocky relationship with the Machinists union and a failure to reach a no-strike deal.

"I'm disappointed, I'm angry, I hurt for the workers and I think the company made the wrong decision," she said. "But I wasn't at the table."

The Machinists' international president, Tom Buffenbarger, denied Boeing's decision was based on concerns over future strikes.

"Corporate decisions like this are years in the making, and this one is no different."

[JT8D]

Riporto anche l'articolo apparso sul nostro portale riguardo a questa notizia:

http://www.md80.it/2009/10/29/boeing-sc ... -del-b787/

Paolo