Shortly after Boeing announced that it will halt production of its famed C-17 cargo plane in 2015—and thereby putting 5,000 Long Beach jobs at risk—speculations are now brewing that Boeing may hold onto the site to manufacture its planned 777x widebody airliner.
Reuters announced that either Boeing’s Long Beach or its Everett, Washington plant could produce the company’s latest venture, and 5th District Councilmember and mayoral hopeful Gerrie Schipske, whose district includes the Boeing plant, is imploring City Manager Pat West to make sure Boeing follows through on remaining here.
“Boeing currently accounts for 2.89% percent of the jobs in Long Beach,” Schipske said in a statement. “We cannot afford to lose these jobs. Boeing’s announcement that it would close the C-17 facility in 2015 and that we would lose over 5,000 jobs was devastating news for Long Beach. Yesterday, the news that Boeing was considering bringing the wing work for the 777x to Long Beach means that the door is not closed and sends the signal that the City needs to do whatever it takes to convince Boeing that Long Beach is the right place for this work.”
According to Forbes, the feasibility of using the Long Beach site and its workforce is rational: the workforce already has the experience in constructing large aircrafts and Boeing admitted that a significant amount of the engineering on the 777x has already been performed in Long Beach.
“Whichever U.S. site wins the wing and other 777X work will presumably enjoy 20-25 years of steady economic activity, generating thousands of direct and indirect jobs,” the Forbes story also says.
Late Tuesday night, it was announced that Washington Governor Jay Inslee called for the state’s legislature to offer tax breaks and infrastructure improvements to keep the Boeing 777x wing assembly there, prompting Schipske to call on Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster to contact California Governor Jerry Brown to do whatever it takes to bring the wing assembly to Long Beach.
“Long Beach needs these jobs. It may be the 11th hour, but every effort should be made to preserve Long Beach as an important aerospace center as it has been since aviation began in our country,” Schipske said.
The 777x will be a a fuel-efficient twin-engine jet that is expected to dominate the high-end commercial transport market when it is released around 2020. Schipske has submitted a council agenda item to determine what steps can be taken by the City to ensure Long Beach remains home to Boeing production.
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