Boeing Lifts Production on 777s To Keep Up With Hot Demand
May 09, 2011
SEATTLE -- Boeing Co. said Tuesday it will increase production on its new 777 wide-bodied jets and add some 5,000 new workers to its payroll in order to meet the strong demand for the hot-selling aircraft. The Seattle-based aerospace and defense giant moved to increase the output on new 777s to seven airplanes per month in July 2012 from the current five. After years of drought, new orders for airliners are surging for Boeing, which is struggling to keep up. In late July, the assembly-line producing wings for the aircraft had fallen badly behind schedule. Boeing also said its 2011 employment forecast will increase by about 5,000 workers to an expected year-end total of 118,350 as it boosts production on its 777s. The jump in new positions comes on the heels of an 8,200-worker increase the company announced in April. Total Boeing employment on September 12, 2010 was 105,180. Boeing's raft of new orders should easily safeguard the jobs that remain, following losses of some 30,000 jobs during the dry years. In fact, the orders are expected to create thousands of new openings in the coming months. Still, Boeing is trying to meet demand with a minimum of new hires, and the fast production step-up is leading to new strains in labor relations just months after a 69-day machinists' strike. The company said the total projected employment changes at major Boeing locations include 2011 increases of about 9,800 in Washington; 3,300 in Wichita, Kan.; and 400 in other Boeing locations. Employment in Philadelphia should decrease by about 300 in 2011. Sources familiar with the company's strategy say Boeing plans to double its rate of production by 2014 to 46 or more airliners per month, or 552 a year.
