Boeing Move May Save Long Beach Plant

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Boeing Co. on Tuesday said it may produce Air Force tankers at its Long Beach plant, a move that could keep the factory open past 2008, when the last C-17 cargo plane is scheduled to be completed there, Bloomberg News reported.


Boeing plans to use the 767 as the base model for its refueling tanker as the commercial version of the plane is phased out and replaced by the more fuel-efficient 787 once that jet starts operating in 2008, Bloomberg said. If Boeing wins the contract and the 767 is chosen, the Long Beach production line could be dedicated to tankers, Chief Financial Officer James Bell said Tuesday.


The Air Force doesn’t plan to order C-17s beyond the 180 it has under contract. Unless Congress acts, the last plane will be delivered in 2008 and the plant will be shuttered.


Chicago-based Boeing will compete for the program against a Northrop Grumman Corp. and European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. venture. Bidding for the tanker-replacement contract will open by mid-year, Bloomberg said.


The Defense Department’s budget through 2011 calls for 30 tankers with three procured in fiscal 2008, seven in 2009, eight in 2010 and 12 in 2011, the Air Force said.


The Boeing factory in Long Beach that builds the C-17 transport employs about 6,500 workers. In Los Angeles County, the total employment stemming from C-17 assembly is 16,675, the Long Beach Press-Telegram said.


A report by the U.S. Department of Commerce said the Pentagon’s plan to mothball production of the C-17 cargo plane in Long Beach would eliminate about $8.4 billion from the Southern California economy and cut more than 25,000 jobs nationwide, the newspaper reported. Boeing would have to spend about $760 million to dismantle C-17 lines in California, Georgia, Texas, Missouri and elsewhere.

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