Boeing Flies 777 To Crews That Built It Proud Spokane Employees Tour New Plane They Helped Build But Have Never Seen
Shauna Troy brought her video camera to document the event for her family. Glee Davis wished she could have brought her 13-year-old son.
Together, with 450 other Boeing Co. workers in Spokane who make floor panels, air ducts and console parts, the women came to the Spokane Airways Flight Center on Thursday to tour the airplane they help build but had never seen - the spectacular Boeing 777.
“Yes, that’s what we do!” shouted colleague Charlotte Reves, pointing to a tubular Fiberglas air duct snaking its way through the ceiling panel of the monstrous blue-and-gray plane. “I think this whole plane is so first class.”
Touching down on its fifth hour of operation, the new wide-bodied 777 wowed workers and dignitaries who marveled at the video screens imbedded in the back of each seat and twin engines hanging beneath a 200-foot wing span.
Boeing brought the airplane to Spokane to show workers where their handiwork was used in building the $122 million to $167 million passenger jet. The skin of the underbelly was pulled back to reveal air ducts, where small white tags listed a phone number in Spokane to call for questions.
“I put those stickers on,” Davis said proudly.
The visiting airplane soon will be delivered to United Airlines, its 16th 777 purchased to date. The airline took possession of its first 777s a year ago.
“It’s got everything we wanted,” said Gordon McKinzie, United Airlines 777 program manager. “Flight attendants love it because passengers get so caught up in the videos they don’t harass the attendants.”
Boeing also used the tour to remind Spokane leaders of the company’s prominence in state and local business.
“They’re making components more efficiently here than they could make them in Seattle,” said Gordon Budke, president of Momentum ‘96, a Spokane economic development group. “It’s a proud team in Spokane.”
That team quickly turned into a party as Boeing workers poured out of buses to climb 25 metal steps to the door of the 777. Once inside, Troy snuck into the cockpit to videotape a wall of electronic controls while Reves tested the size of the commodes.
Back on the ground, employees snapped pictures of each other posing in front of the engines, where 75,000 pounds of thrust is packed into a ball as big as a cement truck.
The 777 is part of Boeing’s new generation of aircraft designed to carry the Seattle-based company into the future. With an extremely flexible design, it can be fitted for up to 550 passengers.
Depending on the features, the 777 can fly up to 8,300 miles, meaning it could travel nonstop from Chicago to Seoul, or London to Los Angeles. It’s up to 242 feet long and is built with 132,500 different parts.
United Airlines’ McKinzie said there are no plans to use 777s in Spokane in the near future.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo