Boeing St. Louis facility to supply parts for new 777X
The good news just keeps on coming from Associated Industries of Missouri Circle of Elite Organizations member Boeing!
EVERETT, Wash., Oct. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Boeing (NYSE: BA) announced today it will produce 777X parts at its site in St. Louis, Mo., bringing back inside the company work that is currently performed at suppliers or performed overseas for the current 777 program.
The design for these parts will be done in St. Louis, Boeing Aerostructures Australia (BAA) and other Boeing sites.
The parts built by the St. Louis team will support 777X work at the composite wing center in Everett, Wash., home of the 777X program. The new composite wing center is currently under construction and will be more than 1 million square feet. Boeing estimates it will hire about 700 new employees at the St. Louis facility.
“Boeing has outstanding capability, resources and experience across the company and the 777X program will leverage that skill base,” said Bob Feldmann, vice president and general manager, 777X program, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “A program of this size requires that we bring together all of the talent that Boeing has to offer.”
Earlier this year, Boeing selected its Everett, Wash. site as the location for a new composite wing center for the 777X program. In this wing center, Boeing will perform fabrication and assembly of the 777X’s composite wing. Additionally, Boeing will perform final assembly of the 777X in Everett.
To accommodate this production work, Boeing will expand its current St. Louis composites facility, which will begin producing parts for the 777X program in 2017.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for Boeing St. Louis and we look forward to being a partner on the 777X program,” said Bob Ciesla, Boeing Military Aircraft Cross-Enterprise Design/Build vice president. “Placing this work in St. Louis optimizes resources, skills and technology in St. Louis and creates high technology jobs in the region.”
The 777X builds on today’s passenger-preferred, market-leading 777 and offers more market coverage and revenue capability than the competition. First delivery is targeted for 2020.
Ed. Note: With today’s announcement of new 777X jobs, over the past eighteen months Boeing has announced plans to bring up to 2,000 new jobs to Missouri. Last year, Boeing announced the creation of an information technology center, resulting in at least 400 new information technology jobs. Boeing also announced that it would bring up to 400 research and technology jobs to St. Louis. Last week, Boeing revealed plans to bring an additional 500 jobs to St. Louis for service and support of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor aircraft.