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South Carolina's Legislative Black Caucus wants to make sure that minorities have a fair and equal shot at the new jobs Boeing Co. is bringing to the Lowcountry, according to letter obtained by The Post and Courier Monday. Sen. Robert Ford, a Charleston Democrat and chairman of the caucus' Civil Rights and Affirmative Action Committee, wrote Boeing's president Jim McNerney Oct. 30 to ask for information about the company's hiring practices. Ford, who is running for governor, represents Senate District 42, where Boeing's newly announced Dreamliner production line will be located. He included in the letter the racial makeup of...

The development schedule for a new U.S.-Israeli missile interceptor system is overly ambitious, and defense authorities likely will have to implement a backup plan if countries like Iran acquire a nuclear-tipped missile before the end of the next decade, according to defense experts. Advanced sensor and propulsion capabilities envisioned for the Arrow-3 interceptor likely will take significantly longer to develop than the five or six years estimated by Boeing Co., particularly given the program’s funding level, the experts said. “Look at any system that is developed — it takes 10 years from concept to deployment and there’s not much [funding]...

Mr. Toth's First-Class Obsession Recreates Defunct Airline's Cabin (Spiral Stairs, Too) Fliers nostalgic for the golden era of air travel might want to book a trip to Anthony Toth's garage. Mr. Toth has built a precise replica of a first-class cabin from a Pan Am World Airways 747 in the garage of his two-bedroom condo in Redondo Beach, Calif. The setup includes almost everything fliers in the late 1970s and 1980s would have found onboard: pairs of red-and-blue reclining seats, original overhead luggage bins and a curved, red-carpeted staircase. Once comfortably ensconced, Mr. Toth's visitors can sip beverages from the...

On Wednesday, Boeing announced it would put a second 787 assembly line in Charleston, S.C., rather than Everett, WA.

Boeing's decision to build a new airplane-assembly plant in Charleston, S.C., will change the shape of the company and dramatically alter how both the state of Washington and the Machinists union approach Boeing. Washington state must accept a future where it competes for every new Boeing airplane program, with low-wage South Carolina as a certain rival. The Machinists must accept that if Boeing doesn't like their demands, it can direct future work to its nonunion Charleston plants. A defining moment could come about 2015, when Boeing will choose where to build the successor plane to either the Renton-built 737 or...

Super Hornet favourite in Indian and Brazilian tenders By Reuben F Johnson The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is well placed to fulfil both the Indian and Brazilian fighter requirements, the company and its industry partners said on 28 October. Boeing and its Team Super Hornet partners – Raytheon and General Electric (GE) – presented a broad-ranging review of the F/A-18E/F's position in both the Indian Air Force's (IAF's) Medium-Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) programme for 163 aircraft plus 63 options and the Brazilian Air Force's F-X2 tender for the first 36 of what is projected to be a total of 120...

Northrop Grumman Corp. on Wednesday suggested it could file a lawsuit or even withdraw from the U.S. Air Force tanker contest because of its concerns over the fairness of the competition. Top Northrop officials said they were working with the Pentagon to address their objections to the Air Force's draft Request for Proposals, released to potential bidders Sept. 25.

CHICAGO—Boeing Co. said it would build a second final assembly line for its troubled 787 Dreamliner jet in South Carolina, a move that spurns the powerful aircraft machinists' union that had been negotiating with Boeing to locate the work at the current factory near Seattle. Boeing has been laying the groundwork for a new factory in South Carolina for months and could begin construction at a facility it owns in North Charleston, S.C., as early as Nov. 2. The factory is expected to be operational by July 2011. Boeing's decision comes after a flurry of lobbying by officials in both...

Dow Jones)--Boeing Co. on Wednesday announced it would build a second final assembly line for its troubled 787 Dreamliner jet in South Carolina, a move that spurns the powerful aircraft machinists' union that had been negotiating with Boeing to locate the work at the current factory near Seattle. Boeing has been laying the groundwork for a new factory in South Carolina for months and could begin construction at a facility it owns in North Charleston, S.C., as early as Nov. 2. The factory is expected to be operational by July 2011.

Just announced KING5 news, waiting for link...

So Boeing is threatening to jilt us (again). To run out on our nine decades of marriage with someone smarter? Better? More reliable? Nope. With someone cheaper. Take away the heat, all the union-bashing or management second-guessing as Boeing now appears ready to move a major piece of its plane-building operations to South Carolina. At the core of this breakup drama is a cold statistic: 14. As in $14. Per hour. That's the average pay of the local line workers who are building the fuselage of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner in a Charleston, S.C., plant. Average pay of a Boeing Machinist...

Today marks a bittersweet milestone in aviation history. United Airlines, the first carrier to make the Boeing 737 a staple of its fleet 41 years ago, is retiring the last of those jets in an airborne party that will stretch from Virginia to California. The plane is the last of 94 Boeing 737s that United has grounded since September 2008. That painful maneuver cost thousands of United workers their jobs but likely saved the carrier from financial calamity as the travel market collapsed last winter following Wall Street's meltdown, analysts said.

Discussions between the Machinists union and Boeing over the second 787 production line for Everett are effectively dead, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. Boeing now appears close to choosing Charleston, S.C., as the location of the second line. The person close to the negotiations said an announcement could come within days. Boeing management has turned down further talks over the potential 10-year no-strike agreement the company had sought, the person said. "The union wants to continue talking," said this source, who is not aligned with the union. "The Boeing Co. does not want to talk any further....

The Boeing board of directors met Monday in Chicago without reaching a decision on siting a second 787 production line, as efforts continued to resolve an impasse in the high-stakes talks between the Machinists union and the company. If the Machinists and Boeing can't agree on a 10-year no-strike deal that would land the second production line in Everett, the company is threatening to put it in Charleston, S.C. The company released no information on the board's discussion about the second 787 line, but sources confirmed there was no decision. In phone calls over the weekend, Gov. Christine Gregoire and...

Boeing has announced the successful completion of two key reviews for the U.S. Army's High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator (HEL TD) program. Completion of a critical design review in July allows Boeing to begin building a rugged beam control system on a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT), a widely used military tactical vehicle. A system functional review in June addressed key enablers for fielding a next-generation, solid-state laser weapon system. "This demonstration program is making significant progress in developing a weapon system that will transform the way soldiers are protected on the battlefield," said Gary Fitzmire, vice president and...

You would think that an unpiloted space plane built to rocket spaceward from Florida atop an Atlas booster, circle the planet for an extended time, then land on autopilot on a California runway would be big news. But for the U.S. Air Force X-37B project — seemingly, mum's the word. There is an air of vagueness regarding next year's Atlas Evolved Expendable launch of the unpiloted, reusable military space plane. The X-37B will be cocooned within the Atlas rocket's launch shroud — a ride that's far from cheap. While the launch range approval is still forthcoming, SPACE.com has learned that...

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Behind closed doors, business and local government leaders in South Carolina are working to deliver an electrifying jolt to the economy of this genteel city — at the expense of Washington state. Already the site of side-by-side factories that produce two thirds of the fuselage for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, Charleston is in a tight race with Everett to be the location of a second final-assembly line for the new jet. "It's a huge deal," said Pat Barber, a well-connected Charleston businessman who owns a trucking company that specializes in oversize loads and could win a lot of...

Boeing and the Machinists union are far apart in secret negotiations over a proposed no-strike agreement that would ensure a second 787 final assembly line goes to Everett instead of Charleston, S.C.Secret talks have been going on for weeks in Washington, D.C., and Chicago between Boeing and the Machinists union, with top leaders negotiating over a proposed no-strike agreement that would ensure a second 787 final-assembly line goes to Everett instead of Charleston, S.C. But less than a week ahead of a Boeing board meeting to discuss the choice, the labor talks are deadlocked and hindered by distrust on each...

Boeing will decide in the next two weeks whether to put a second 787 Dreamliner final assembly line in Everett or in Charleston, S.C.Boeing has narrowed its decision on where to put a second 787 Dreamliner final assembly line to Everett and Charleston S.C., and will make a choice within the next two weeks. The outcome could have a profound impact on where future Boeing airplanes are built, and the key question appears to be whether the Machinists union will accede to management's demand for a long-term no-strike agreement. In a conference call with the press this morning, chief executive...

Boeing has signed Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contracts with the U.S. government to provide Laser Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) to two international customers. The FMS contracts are part of a $98 million indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract for Laser JDAM production and integration that Boeing received in August. The weapons are scheduled for delivery in 2010. "There is strong international interest in Laser JDAM because it engages both stationary and moving targets with tremendous precision," said Dan Jaspering, Boeing director of Direct Attack Programs. "There are more than 20 countries that have JDAM, and we expect many of them...

Security: After Iran admits building a second enrichment facility inside a mountain, the Pentagon shifts money from other programs to urgently fund the mother of all bunker-buster bombs. Why the need for speed? At the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh last month, President Obama announced, "The Islamic Republic of Iran has been building a covert uranium enrichment facility near Qom for several years." U.S. officials said they knew for some time that the facility existed. The announcement was made after U.S. officials learned Iran had told the International Atomic Energy Agency of Qom's existence. Our knowledge of the facility built in...

Security: After Iran admits building a second enrichment facility inside a mountain, the Pentagon shifts money from other programs to urgently fund the mother of all bunker-buster bombs. Why the need for speed? At the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh last month, President Obama announced, "The Islamic Republic of Iran has been building a covert uranium enrichment facility near Qom for several years." U.S. officials said they knew for some time that the facility existed. The announcement was made after U.S. officials learned Iran had told the International Atomic Energy Agency of Qom's existence. Our knowledge of the facility built in...

The Pentagon is playing dirty pool on behalf of the already-dirtiest pool players from Boeing, with regard to the huge (179-plane, about $40 billion) air refueling tanker contract that Northrop Grumman Corp. and EADS won fair and square last year before it was stolen away from them. As a reminder: The swiping occurred after Boeing launched an unprecedented and underhanded political-hardball campaign after Northrop won the contract with a bigger, more versatile, more efficient plane. Boeing's bid also was some $3 billion more expensive (or $42 million more expensive per plane) than Northrop's for just the first 64 planes. And...

Boeing will take a $1 billion charge to its third-quarter earnings to reflect growing production costs and slow demand for the new version of its 747 jumbo jet. The company said this morning that the 747-8 program is in a loss position, meaning Boeing currently projects it will lose money on the plane. Boeing said it now expects the first flight of the 747-8 Freighter to occur by early next year with the flight test program taking place in 2010. As recently as last month, the program's top executive had indicated he expected the first test plane to fly in...

F-15Ks Primed with 'Unpatriotic' Maps The Air Force's F-15K fighter jets carried some digital map information that is at odds with their mission to defend the country, it has emerged. The jets carried digital maps that referred to Korea's Dokdo Islets either by their Japanese name "Takeshima" or as "Liancourt Rocks," the East Sea as "Sea of Japan," and Mt. Baekdu in Chinese as "Changbaishan" -- all names that are red rags to many patriotic Koreans. This was revealed by Grand National Party lawmaker Kim Jang-soo, a former defense minister, in a questionnaire distributed Sunday prior to a parliamentary audit...

The B-52 aircraft deployed as part of the U.S. Air Force fleet are to be equipped with secure Extremely High Frequency Communication Systems to enable them to remain in contact with other elements of the military in space, in the air and on the ground. The revolutionary EHF has been found to be more reliable and less susceptible to atmospheric conditions than other frequencies. The Boeing Co. said Tuesday it received a $5.4 million initial contract to begin work on developing technologies required to integrate the new EHF satellite communication system on the U.S. Air Force B-52 fleet. No timeline...

Washington State plans no new financial incentives for Boeing in its bid to win a second production line for the 787 Dreamliner. That's clear from a 32-page document released Monday morning by the office of Gov. Christine Gregoire. On Friday, Gregoire met with the new chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Jim Albaugh, and presented him with the document outlining the business case for building a second 787 line here. The presentation includes no new concessions specific to Boeing or the aerospace industry, but instead summarizes the state's existing advantages as a center of civil aerospace manufacturing. "The greatest benefit...

Boeing employees are about to lose a fabulous perk, and the cost-cutting move could mean a significant financial hit for some local colleges and universities as well. Until now, when a Boeing employee enrolled for any class at any accredited college, the company picked up the tuition — with no restrictions. Boeing currently pays for the classes of about 6,000 employees in the Puget Sound region and 21,000 companywide. But many of those enjoying free classes will lose that benefit at year-end, when Boeing starts limiting its subsidy to cover only courses that further an employee's career at the company....

When the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra decided to raise money with a concert honoring its powerful hometown congressman, the Boeing Co. and other defense contractors pitched in.The 2005 event — which celebrated the 50th wedding anniversary of Pennsylvania Democrat John P. Murtha , chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, and his wife, Joyce — drew a $50,000 pledge from Boeing to endow the symphony’s annual opera festival. The company spread the donation over five years, delivering the final $10,000 installment May 4.“We were pleased to be in a position to assist the symphony and looked forward to following through with...

WASHINGTON — The Air Force is poised to reopen a troubled $35 billion contract competition for mid-flight refueling tankers between Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp. "After eight years, we can finally get on with this program," Rep. John Murtha, D- Pa., said Thursday. Murtha chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee on defense. He was one of several lawmakers briefed by Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and other Pentagon officials on the latest request for bids — due out Friday — on the tanker competition. Washington Democrat Rep. Norm Dicks, a Boeing supporter, said the Air Force is seeking to reduce...

Boeing Co. workers in North Charleston voted overwhelmingly to disband their union in a move that could give the region an edge in landing an aircraft plant the company is looking to build. Of the 267 ballots cast, 199 were in favor of decertifying the election that made them members of the International Association of Machinists. The company was pleased; the union was disappointed. The local plant makes rear fuselage sections for Boeing's 787, a new fast-selling lightweight jet that has been delayed by snags with suppliers and an eight-week strike last year by the IAM. Boeing has said it...

Few details available about military mission ... except that it succeeded An Atlas 5 rocket has lifted off from Florida carrying a highly classified military satellite. The rocket launched into a nearly cloudless sky at 5:35 p.m. ET Tuesday. United Launch Alliance, a joint venture involving Lockheed Martin and Boeing, handled the launch. Eric Brian, a spokesman for the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, declined to say which branch of the military will command the satellite in orbit. Brian said the rocket carried a $500 million payload. The satellite was made by Lockheed Martin. United Launch Alliance...

PHOTO: Boeing pitches OV-10X Bronco for USAF light attack By Stephen Trimble on September 11, 2009 Boeing confirms it has proposed building new OV-10s with upgraded avionics and weapons for the US Air Force light attack contract. Subscription-only Inside the Air Force broke the news this morning. Boeing provided the photo above, providing a glimpse of the new OV-10 concept. The image will surely be embraced by the Bronco's devoted following, who remember the aircraft's notably effective service in the Vietnam War. The OV-10 could face competition from other Vietnam-era light attack aircraft, such as the Piper Aircraft PA-48 Enforcer....

Workers at Boeing's 787 fuselage assembly plant in Charleston, S.C. have decisively voted to get rid of the Machinists union as their bargaining representative with the company. The vote was 199 for decertification of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) union against 68 for retaining it. The vote means that Boeing Charleston becomes a non-union plant. It will compete with Boeing Everett, an IAM stronghold, to be the site of a second 787 Dreamliner assembly line. A decision on that site selection is expected by year end. Boeing spokesman Tim Healy said the company is pleased with the outcome. "Boeing...

Saudis Eye Buying 72 F-15s By Greg Grant Tuesday, September 8th, 2009 2:33 pm Posted in Air, International, Policy Saudi Arabia is close to placing an order for as many as 72 Boeing F-15 fighter jets, industry and defense sources tell us. Growing security concerns over Gulf neighbor and perennial troublemaker Iran are pushing the Saudis to upgrade their air fleet with a particular emphasis on precision strike aircraft. The Pentagon is expected to approve the sale as it seeks to counter Iran’s recent break-out as a regional power and quell nervousness among Gulf Arab states troubled by Iran’s growing...

Phantom Ray will pick up where the UCAS program left off in 2006 by further demonstrating Boeing’s unmanned systems development capabilities in a fighter-sized, state-of-the-art aerospace system. The Boeing UCAS program began with the X-45A, which successfully flew 64 times from 2002 to 2005. Those flights included a demonstration exercise with two X-45A aircraft that marked the first unmanned, autonomous multivehicle flight under the control of a single pilot...] ...Currently planned Dec. 2, the Air Force Flight Test Center’s B-52 will carry the X-51A to 50,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean then release it. A solid rocket booster from an...

BRUSSELS (AFP) – The World Trade Organisation has judged European subsidies paid to Airbus illegal, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing a source "familiar with the matter". But European sources who declined to be named told AFP that the interim ruling released by the WTO indicated that the US complaint was only partially upheld. The Journal reported from Brussels that the WTO concluded that every launch-aid package given to Airbus for the development of its A380 double-decker long-range airliner was an illegal subsidy. The conclusion was contained in a report of around 1,000 pages, with hard copies only...

Boeing (BA) CEO Jim McNerney is eager to move the company to China. Whether moving Boeing to China means shifting its headquarters from Chicago to Beijing is up in the air. But Boeing already has $600 million in supplier partnerships with China -- such as a deal with Shenyang Aircraft Corporation to build an assembly for the 787's vertical fin. And Stan Sorscher, who spent 20 years at Boeing before taking a post at the Society of Professional Engineers in Aerospace (SPEEA) in 2000, told me that engineers he spoke with believe that McNerney is hooked on the idea of...

CHICAGO, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) today announced that the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner is expected by the end of 2009 and first delivery is expected to occur in the fourth quarter of 2010. The new schedule reflects the previously announced need to reinforce an area within the side-of-body section of the aircraft, along with the addition of several weeks of schedule margin to reduce flight test and certification risk. The company projects achieving a production rate of 10 airplanes per month in late 2013. "This new schedule provides us the time needed to...

Boeing asked South Carolina's commerce secretary today for help in getting all the necessary permits for a 787 final assembly plant in North Charleston, and declared itself "delighted" by the state's reaction so far. The letter to Commerce Secretary Joe Taylor formally announced Boeing's interest in North Charleston "as a site for a potential facility for final assembly of our newest airplane, the 787 Dreamliner." ~snip~ The letter adds to pressure on Boeing's Machinist union to offer the company a "no-strike" agreement, which management has been pressing for most of this year.Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson responded to Boeing's plan to...

A test-firing of a high-energy laser beam aboard a modified Boeing 747 has been called a success, the Missile Defense Agency said. A team from Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin conducted the Airborne Laser (ABL) test Tuesday over the California High Desert. The laser was fired into an onboard calorimeter, which captured the beam and measured its power. The test is preparation for an upcoming demonstration in which the laser will be fired through a nose-mounted turret on the aircraft toward the target. In a test Aug. 10, a low-power laser beam hit an instrument-equipped missile. "This test shows...

Boeing plans to give 60-day layoff notices to about 500 workers companywide today, with about 275 of those in the Puget Sound region. About 200 of those receiving the notices work in the commercial-airplanes division, Boeing said. Boeing has been issuing layoff notices monthly since January, when it said it needed to cut 10,000 positions in 2009. Through the end of July, Boeing had cut about 2,400 jobs companywide and not filled more than 1,000 additional open positions.

Lobbying steps up ahead of Brazil jet fighter decision By Marc Burleigh (AFP) – 7 hours ago SAO PAULO — French, Swedish and US defense companies pursuing a four-billion-dollar deal to replace Brazil's aging fleet of fighter jets are stepping up lobbying efforts ahead of a decision expected within the next couple of months. The intensification of the campaigns comes after Brazil's likely announcement was pushed back from September to October at the earliest in order to ask "incredibly detailed" technical questions of the three competitors, a source in one of the companies said. France's Dassault, which is fielding its...

Defense: The Air Force airborne laser program successfully completes a simulated kill from a plane able to find, track and destroy a live ballistic missile. We can shoot down enemy missiles. Instead, we're shooting down the laser program.The Aug. 10 effort was the third such test — sort of like a sniper sighting the target with the red dot of a laser without actually pulling the trigger. In early June, the airborne laser (ABL) program engaged two un-instrumented missiles. This was the first in-flight test against an instrumented target missile. A modified Boeing 747-400F aircraft took off from Edwards Air...

Defense: Overlooked in the defense budget cuts is the decimation of missile defense systems. As North Korea tested an ICBM, our defense secretary was scrapping a system that could have destroyed it with a single shot.We will miss the F-22 Raptor, perhaps the only plane that could evade the sophisticated S-300 surface-to-air missile defense system Russia is selling to Iran. Russia's S-300 system is "one of the most lethal, if not the most lethal, all-altitude area defense" systems, according to the International Strategy and Assessment Service, a Virginia-based think tank. But the aircraft we and the nation will miss the...

Boeing, working with industry teammates and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), has completed construction of a second interceptor test silo for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The new underground silo provides additional test capability for the United States' only defense against long-range ballistic missile threats. "Having this second test silo to launch interceptors will allow us to test upgrades to the GMD system more quickly, improving the MDA's ability to stay ahead of evolving threats," said Norm Tew, Boeing vice president and GMD program director. "We are proud to deliver this additional capability...

Political card in aircraft dogfight - Makers of Eurofighter up the ante on the ground to beat American contenders in the race for $11-billion air force contract SUJAN DUTTA New Delhi, Aug. 17: The great duel in the skies for an Indian Air Force order that could top $11 billion for 126 fighter aircraft began in Bangalore today, but the real action is being worked out in boardrooms of aviation majors. At least one of the six competitors in the race, EADS, is saying upfront that it will gift-wrap its offer of the Eurofighter Typhoon for the IAF with a...

Amid continuing tension over political upheaval in Iran, the U.S. Defense Department says it wants to accelerate production of a 30,000-pound "ultra-large bunker-buster" bomb designed to destroy deeply buried installations. The Pentagon has requested Congress to provide the necessary funding to ensure that the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a next-generation bomb known as MOP and built by Boeing, would be ready by July 2010, spokesman Bryan Whitman said on Aug. 3. The non-nuclear weapon will be the biggest conventional bomb the United States has ever deployed. It carries 5,300 pounds of high explosive inside a 25.5-foot bomb casing of hardened steel...

EDWARDS AFB, CA - The Boeing Company and the US Missile Defense Agency successfully completed the Airborne Laser's (ABL) first in-flight test against an instrumented target missile, achieving a historic milestone.During the test, the modified Boeing 747-400F used its infrared sensors to find a target missile launched from San Nicolas Island, Calif. The battle management system aboard ABL issued engagement and target location instructions to the beam control/fire control system, which acquired the target and fired its two solid-state illuminator lasers to track the target and measure atmospheric conditions.ABL then fired a surrogate high-energy laser at the target, simulating a...

Production workers at Boeing's newly acquired assembly plant in Charleston, S.C., plan to vote Sept. 10 on a petition to get rid of the Machinists union. At a National Labor Relations Board hearing in Charleston this morning, the company and the International Association of Machinists (IAM) agreed to the vote. A decision to decertify the IAM at the Charleston facility could influence whether Boeing will move future airplane assembly work there, including a second production line for its new 787 Dreamliner. If the vote succeeds, nonunion Boeing Charleston will compete directly with the unionized Everett plant for the new 787...