Photo tour: Behind the scenes at Boeing's 787 factory in South Carolina
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. -- It’s been a busy month for Boeing’s Dreamliner assembly line here.
Boeing’s newest and biggest variant of its 787 Dreamliner widebody aircraft -- the 787-10 -- rolled out of the South Carolina facility on Feb. 17, with President Trump on hand for the festivities.
Just two days prior, production workers at the North Charleston facility voted against unionizing. The result was seen as a victory for Boeing, which campaigned against the effort.
Boeing’s South Carolina facility also remained in the aviation industry news last week as Korean Air took delivery of its first-ever Dreamliner here amid a splashy handover ceremony.
The recent run of events has helped turn a spotlight on Boeing's North Charleston assembly line.
Boeing broke ground there in 2009 and commenced operations in 2011. Today, the jetmaker’s South Carolina facilities include more than 4 million square feet of space spread across nearly 900 acres. That’s up from about 900,000 square feet on only 240 acres at the time of the groundbreaking.
“We are very excited about our site,” says Darrel Larson, Director of Operations - 787 Aft Body, at Boeing’s North Charleston operation.
Korean Air shows off new Boeing Dreamliner in South Carolina
Boeing’s North Charleston factory is capable of producing all three variants of the Dreamliner – the 787-8, 787-9 and 787-10 – though Larson says “we’re going to focus on -9s and -10s here in South Carolina.”
For now, the plant will continue to churn out Dreamliners, though Larson suggested Boeing’s holdings in the region give the company flexibility for future needs.
“We have a lot of land here to do whatever the company needs to do,” he said while speaking to reporters here last Tuesday (Feb. 21).
Curious to see it for yourself?
So far, tours of the South Carolina facility are not open to the public. But Today in the Sky was on hand earlier this month for a behind-the-scenes tour with other outlets. You can tag along virtually by checking out the photo gallery at the top. Or, check out our other embedded galleries to see photos from other recent events there.
TWITTER: You can follow Today in the Sky editor Ben Mutzabaugh at twitter.com/TodayInTheSky
ARCHIVES: Boeing adding paint facility in South Carolina, acquires land | S.C. Boeing expansion to continue apace in 2014 | Aerospace is South Carolina’s stealthiest industry | Is the Lowcountry poised to rival the Upstate in manufacturing?
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