Boeing plans to buy 50% of North Charleston plant

Melissa Haneline
The Post and Courier

Vought Aircraft Industries' first completed Boeing 787 fuselage section is seen at the North Charleston plant in April.

Brad Nettles
The Post and Courier

An aerial view of the Vought aircraft plant in North Charleston is seen next Charleston International Airport.

Boeing Co. is buying part of a critical 787 aircraft supplier in North Charleston in a maneuver designed to speed up production of the delayed passenger jet.

The aerospace giant said Friday it is acquiring a 50 percent stake in Global Aeronautica as part of an effort "to overcome supply-chain challenges" of the Dreamliner program. It did not elaborate about the challenges.

Global Aeronautica was created several years ago as a 50-50 joint venture between Vought Aircraft Industries Inc. of Texas and Alenia Aeronautica of Italy. Boeing is buying out Vought's half for undisclosed terms.

In a statement, Pat Shanahan, vice president and general manager of the 787 program, said Boeing will "apply proven lean manufacturing expertise to continue improving the efficiency and productivity" at Global Aeronautica.

It made sense for Vought to sell, according to Elmer Doty, Vought's chief executive officer. He said Global Aeronautica will "require fairly extensive" hands-on involvement from Boeing because of the highly complicated nature and scope of the work.

"It gives them more active participation," Doty said.

The ownership change will not affect Global Aeronautica's 300 workers or Vought's 300 employees in North Charleston,

Doty said. Current management also will remain intact, Boeing said.

The making of the 787 is a departure from the traditional method of assembling airplanes. Instead of building the jet in-house with its own workers, Boeing has hired contractors around the world to handle much of the manufacturing. Roughly 60 percent of the 787 body is being made and modified on the outskirts of Charleston International Airport.

At the Global Aeronautica plant off International Boulevard, large mid-fuselage sections from Italy and Japan are joined together and equipped with tens of thousands of internal components. The company then attaches those structures to rear fuselage sections made by Vought in a separate factory nearby. The finished pieces are loaded onto a huge cargo jet and flown to Boeing's final assembly line near Seattle.

But production glitches in North Charleston and elsewhere have hampered the launch of the 787, which is viewed as the most successful new aircraft in history. Boeing has already racked up about 900 orders for the lightweight passenger jet.

The first test flight is now set for late June, roughly nine months later than originally planned, which has pushed back delivery dates. Some Boeing watchers expect more delays when the company releases an updated schedule in the next few weeks.

"The current schedule is not widely believed," said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with the aerospace consulting firm Teal Group.

Industry observers, including Aboulafia, credited Boeing for taking an active role in Global Aeronautica.

"It sounds like it's positive, a step in the right direction," he said Friday.

Scott Hamilton of the Issaquah, Wash.-based aerospace consultant Leeham Co. said on his Web site that North Charleston "has been one of the key trouble spots" for the 787. He called the Global Aeronautica investment "a good move for Boeing in straightening out the program."

"Today's news is tangible evidence that Boeing is taking back control of its own destiny," Hamilton said. "It's a major step, it's not the first and it won't be the last. But for all interested parties, it's certainly the right step."

Online aviation writer Jon Ostrower of Flightblogger said the purchase underscores the importance of Global Aeronautica to Boeing's success. No other 787 supplier shoulders so much responsibility, he said.

"It's a centerpiece," Ostrower said.

Boeing spokeswoman Yvonne Leach said the aircraft maker is simply adapting to a new way of building planes and putting its expertise where it is most needed. She noted that the highly complicated assembly work performed at Global Aeronautica is "a whole different animal."

"Boeing has a core competency of doing large-scale integration," Leach said. "For us to come in and have more involvement, we can help streamline it and make it more efficient."

Reach John McDermott at jmcdermott@postandcourier.com or 937-5572.