Boeing has commenced construction of a 1.3 million square-foot facility for the manufacture of composite wings designed for the B777X.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes Chief Executive Ray Conner said: "We're going to be a here for a long, long time.”
Boeing’s composite wing construction has previously been outsourced to companies outside the US, which has led to ongoing supply issues with the composite 787.
The new wing factory will house three of the world's largest autoclaves used for curing composite material. Each autoclave is large enough to hold two 737 fuselages, Boeing said.
The building will be occupied starting in 2016. The first 777X is due to be delivered in 2020. The new aircraft, which carries a list price of up to $389 million and has garnered 286 orders, is expected to be 12% more fuel-efficient than the current 777, which was introduced in 1995 and has become one of Boeing's most popular and reliable wide-body aircraft.
Boeing’s Ray Conner thanked the machinists' union for approving an eight-year extension to their labour contract earlier this year. The agreement essentially traded union members' defined-benefit pension plan for the guarantee of future work on the 777X.
Boeing said the extension was necessary to ensure the wing factory and the 777X assembly plant would be placed in Washington, and not in another state.
Boeing breaks ground on new 777X wing construction facility
