Boeing Hits Snags Some Workers Reassigned To Boost 747 Production

Boeing says assembly tasks for the 747 jumbo-jet program have fallen behind “two to three times” beyond normal and the company is shifting employees from other programs, considering recalling laid off Douglas Aircraft workers and may even shift some production to Douglas plants.

The company already has shifted about 200 workers from its 767 to its 747 production line and may hire another 200 workers to catch up on production. The transfer of 767 workers initially will be for three weeks.

Bob Dryden, executive vice president of airplane production for Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, said Wednesday the manufacturing squeeze is being caused by a combination of increased production rates, training of hundreds of new workers, and a shortage of aircraft parts.

“As we’ve come up in rates, our suppliers have had to come up equally as fast,” he said. “We have a lot more (parts) shortages than we would like to have.”

Boeing was producing two 747s per month last year, doubled it to four per month earlier this year and plans to turn out five per month by next spring.

Both the 767 and 747 models, along with the 777, are made at Boeing’s Everett site north of Seattle.

Boeing also is exploring other options to improve production, including new manufacturing processes, additional training and adjusted work schedules.

Also being considered is a recall of some laid-off Douglas Aircraft workers in Long Beach, Calif., or using Douglas’ facilities to produce Boeing aircraft. Boeing and Douglas’ parent company, McDonnell Douglas, recently merged.

The production squeeze means Boeing may miss delivery dates for two jetliners - a 747 and a 767 before the end of the year, company spokesman Doug Webb said. He declined to identify which customers would be affected.

Boeing is scheduled to deliver 46 747s and 43 767s this year.

Factory workers told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that a 747-400 scheduled to be delivered Sept. 12 to Malaysia Airlines is still far from finished, and that its delivery date has been pushed back to at least Sept. 30.

“We are very concerned about this because it disrupts our revenue service,” said a Malaysia Airlines official who confirmed the delay but asked not to be identified.

Overall, Boeing produced 18 planes per month last year, is currently rolling out about 30 per month, and plans to produce 43 per month by the second quarter of next year.