PrintPrintJack Jones, vice president and general manager of Boeing S.C., said the aerospace giant expects to deliver the first Dreamliner built in North Charleston to Air India next week. The S.C. delivery center has already delivered two Washington state-built Dreamliners to the airline.
Staff Report
Published Sept. 20, 2012
Boeing South Carolina expects to deliver the first Lowcountry-built Dreamliner to Air India next week, a Boeing Co. executive said Wednesday.
Jack Jones, vice president and general manager of Boeing South Carolina, gave the update Wednesday during the S.C. International Trade Conference on the Isle of Palms.
Jones said the North Charleston delivery center has already delivered two Dreamliners to Air India, but workers in Puget Sound built both of those planes.
Jones also discussed the migration of suppliers to the Lowcountry, saying very few have come this way so far.
“In our business, it takes time,” Jones said. “And they’ll gravitate.”
Customers and suppliers want to see the new facility make progress and see a viable business, Jones said. Now, Boeing South Carolina produces one 787 each month and a half, but workers will increase the rate quickly to its goal of three-and-a-half 787s each month. Jones said Boeing has found that as it starts to increase production, the suppliers tend to move closer to the facilities.
“That’s their decision,” Jones said. “We don’t encourage, we don’t tell them they have to or not to.”
Previous coverage
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