WORLD ROUTES BOEING TOUR
Industry insiders wowed by Boeing
>>> Delegates were treated to a VIP fl oor tour of the Boeing Everett Factory just outside Seattle.
B
usloads of aviation enthusiasts and industry insiders descended on the Boeing Factory in Everett,
Washington, in the US both before and after World Routes for an exclusive, behind-the-scenes, factory fl oor tour of the world’s most famous aircraft manufacturing facility. This was very different to the public tours, which are not allowed on the factory fl oor itself. “Overwhelming,” was the word used by British Airways’ lead network executive, Sabine Reim, to describe the experience. “It was amazing to see the aircraft being assembled in the factory. They looked so small compared to the building and it was a really interesting experience,” she said. It’s no wonder the aircraft looked small in comparison to the Boeing facility. At just under 100 acres, it is the largest building in the world by volume and is home to all the production lines for Boeing’s twin-aisle aircraft. The building itself has been expanded a number of times since the fi rst B747 aircraft was delivered to PanAm in 1970. To put this size in perspective, imagine this: each sliding door on the factory fl oor is the size of an American football fi eld.
It was also quite an experience to see some of the facility’s 29,000 employees – mainly engineers and mechanics – hard at work. In particular, the Dreamliner’s engineers now have their desks on the production line – a move aimed at speeding up the aircraft’s delayed delivery schedule.
This story fi rst
appeared in The Hub Daily on September 19.
B747-8 wings on the production line at the Boeing factory in Everett, Washington. Picture courtesy of the Future of Flight.
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