Vought Halts Work on Boeing Parts in South Carolina

Vought Aircraft Industries’ plant in Charleston, South Carolina, has stopped making rear fuselage sections for Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner as the company adjusts to a delayed launch. Vought officials don’t think they’ll make any more composite components for the 787 for at least several months, but Vought President Elmer Doty says production might ramp back up later this year. Doty, speaking with Wall Street analysts Tuesday, said workers in North Charleston are now finishing the aft section for the 19th "Dreamliner" on Boeing's assembly line near Seattle, and due to be completed probably next year. Otherwise, he said, the plant has "effectively ceased composites production for some time". Unlike most commercial airplanes, much of the 787 is being built in pieces by suppliers around the world, a strategy that has led to several high-profile delays. The latest came in April, when Boeing pushed back the first delivery of the 787 by another six months, to the third quarter of 2009. The Chicago-based aerospace giant originally had hoped to deliver the first aircraft this past spring. The revised production schedule calls for Boeing to complete just 25 Dreamliners in 2009, down from the 112 it originally planned. That decreases work in the short run for major suppliers like Vought, which are expected to make parts and deliver them as they are needed. About 1,100 workers are employed in plants at Charleston International Airport making sections of the 787’s fuselage, including parts imported from Japan and Italy. In its second quarter results statement, issued Aug. 12, the company noted that: “Vought’s 787 program improved performance was demonstrated by our delivery of our aft fuselage for Airplane #4, which represents dramatic progress in completion, with a virtually complete structure at 98 percent, and 87 percent of systems installed. “Vought continues to rebalance all aspects of its operations to address the lower number of near-term deliveries needed to support Boeing’s refined schedule. In addition, in the second quarter of 2008 Vought completed the sale of its interest in the Global Aeronautica joint venture to Boeing. ”While we are currently slowing the pace of our operations, we continue to examine and develop a variety of plans that will enable us to efficiently ramp up to the production rates requested by our customer, when that is required,” said 787 Division Vice President Joy Romero.