Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES
BOEING RECENTLY considered closing its Renton final-assembly line and moving 757 production to Everett, Washington, and 737 work to Wichita, Kansas, as part of a cost-cutting plan. The scheme was abandoned, as it became clear, that aircraft orders were starting to improve.
The Boeing Commercial Airplane Group Study, undertaken around January and February, envisaged the complete shut down of final assembly, at the Renton site. Airframe construction of the 747, 757, 767 and 777 would have been concentrated at Everett and a of the 737-300/-400/-500 line moved gradually to Wichita, where much of the airframe is produced. The next generation 737-600/-700/8-00 models also would have been produced in Wichita.
The study, however, pre-ceded a surge in orders - the 737 alone accounting for 84 orders worth $3.7 billion in the first half of the year.
One senior executive admits that the plan "...only made sense if we assumed we would never again exceed production levels beyond today's level of three 747s and three 777s a month. We simply could not accommodate the 757 at Everett if these rates increase."
Source: Flight International
