SEATTLE, April 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing (NYSE:
BA) today announced it is centralizing customer support for
in-service airplanes at its Boeing Commercial Airplanes Engineering
Design Center in Southern
California, as the company continues to focus on increasing
competitiveness while enabling continued growth of the global
airline industry.
"We're creating a single location for customer support at the
Southern California design center
to ensure that we are well-positioned to support Boeing airplanes
in service around the world as the market continues to grow," said
Lynne Thompson, vice president of
Customer Support, Commercial Aviation Services, Boeing Commercial
Airplanes. "We will be expanding our presence in Southern California to create a site dedicated
to a superior customer experience. This move will allow us to tap
into existing engineering talent in California to expand on our outstanding
customer support and align resources in a single location.
"At the same time, we will focus our team in the Puget Sound
area on helping customers introduce new airplanes – the 787
Dreamliner, the 737 MAX and the 777X – into their fleets," Thompson
added. "We are committed to making this transition seamless to our
customers."
In May 2013, Boeing established
engineering design centers in South
Carolina, Southern
California and Washington
state to add engineering capability and capacity as the
company scales up to meet unprecedented demand for commercial
airplanes and services. At that time, Boeing announced that support
for out-of-production airplanes would be based at the Southern California center. Boeing continues
to assess current and future work statement for each design center
based on capability, capacity, competitiveness and optimization of
the Boeing enterprise.
Customer support for the 707, 717, 727, 757, DC-8, DC-9, DC-10,
MD-11 and MD-80/-90 models currently is based in Southern California. Customer support for the
Next-Generation 737, 747, 767 and 777 models, as well as commercial
product support for the KC-46 Tanker and P-8, will transition from
Washington to California by the end of 2015.
"Our opportunity for future growth is unprecedented, and the
engineering design centers help us be more competitive by building
on our team's talent and capability – across Boeing, the United States and globally," said
Mike Delaney, vice president of
Engineering, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "We are structuring
Boeing's engineering operations to support future growth, reduce
business risks and consistently provide the products and services
our customers expect."
The Southern California Engineering Design Center currently
employs about 1,800 people at the company's Long Beach and Seal
Beach sites. With this work placement, employment is
expected to increase by approximately 1,000 positions during the
next two years.
Of the affected employees in Washington, many will be offered positions
with other programs in the Puget Sound area. In addition, employees
will have opportunities to apply for new positions in California.
Contact:
Doug Alder
Boeing Commercial Airplanes
Media Relations
+1 206-544-1814
doug.alder-jr@boeing.com
SOURCE Boeing