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By David E. Hubler
Contributor, EDM Digest

Since its founding in 1916, the Boeing Company has made its home in Washington state. But after relocating its headquarters to Chicago in 2001, America’s largest aircraft maker is again reducing its presence in the Pacific Northwest.

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Boeing will consolidate all 787 Dreamliner production to its facility in North Charleston, S.C. The move will strip Everett, Washington, of its most significant jet assembly line, Seattle Times aerospace reporter Dominic Gates wrote Wednesday.

The news is a tremendous blow to Boeing’s Everett workforce, Gates said. “It threatens to leave the largest building by volume in the world — housing Everett’s widebody jet final assembly lines — almost an empty shell.”

Just two active assembly lines would be left in Everett after 2022, building at most five 767 and 777 airplanes a month for several years. That number is down from the 15 jets per month that the Everett plant turned out a year ago.

Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Everett) issued a statement calling Boeing’s decision to pull its 787 production out of Washington state “shortsighted and misplaced.”

“The Pacific Northwest is home to the best aviation and aerospace workforce in the world,” Larsen said. “The strength of the Pacific Northwest’s aviation and aerospace industry includes the region’s strong education system, trained workforce, robust supply chain, extensive manufacturing experience and overall quality of life. We have earned our place as the leader in the U.S. aerospace industry and will continue to earn it.”

“As the economy comes back and air travel returns, I will fight to bring 787 production back to Everett,” Larsen promised.

The company employs almost 70,000 workers in Washington, including around 30,000 at the Everett plant where Boeing also manufactures 767s and 747s.

At its peak, Everett produced around 15 wide body jets a month, The Wall Street Journal reported. “That number would drop to around six and fall further with the 747 program due to end in 2022 and output of the new 777X reduced as Boeing delayed first deliveries until 2022.”

Boeing’s Move Is Another Shift of the Industry to Southern States from the West Coast

Citing “people familiar with the matter,” the Journal said the consolidation in South Carolina was prompted by the coronavirus pandemic sapping demand for the aircraft.

“The decision carries significant implications for the Seattle-area economy and Boeing’s unionized workforce around Puget Sound,” the Journal noted. “Consolidating Dreamliner production in South Carolina would mark another step in the shift of the U.S. aerospace industry to southern states from the West Coast. Companies have already shed thousands of jobs in California while states including the Carolinas, Florida and Alabama have attracted aerospace businesses with less-clogged infrastructure and cheaper, nonunionized labor, including an Airbus SE assembly plant in Mobile, Ala.”

Boeing employs more than 7,000 workers in North Charleston, where it also has an engine research facility.

In July, Boeing said it would slash production of passenger jets and cut its workforce by about 10%. As the pandemic worsened and air travel remained depressed, Boeing acknowledged that it was considering more personnel cuts beyond the 19,000 already earmarked.

According to the Journal, America’s largest plane maker lost $2.4 billion in the second quarter. Shares of Boeing stock have fluctuated between a 52-week high of $382.85 and a low of $89 a share.

After Boosting Dreamliner Production Last Year to 14 a Month, Boeing Reduced Output to 10

After boosting its Dreamliner production last year to 14 a month — split evenly between Everett and South Carolina — Boeing reduced output to 10 and plans to make six a month next year.

“With the narrow-body 737 MAX grounded for over a year since two fatal crashes, building and selling more 787s has been crucial to Boeing’s financial recovery,” the Journal noted. Boeing has orders for 526 of the planes and has delivered almost 1,000.