Boeing executive says S.C. is ‘cornerstone’ of company’s future

A Boeing Co. executive on Thursday said the company plans to make its S.C. operations the “cornerstone” of the plane-maker’s future.

Ray Conner – Boeing VPRay Conner, vice president and general manager of supply chain management and operations for the plane-maker, said that Boeing’s and the state’s efforts to train workers here will eventually “make South Carolina one of the great, great aerospace regions in the world.”

Conner’s comments, during a speech at the S.C. Chamber of Commerce’s 31st annual summit at the Wild Dunes Resort, seemed to support talk among industry experts who say that Charleston could become Boeing’s focal point in the years ahead.

Conner, an industry veteran who started with Boeing in 1977 as a mechanic — he describes himself as a “Boeing Puget Sound guy” — said the company is evolving.

“When I was first given the assignment,” he said, “I was really excited about the opportunity to have a role in creating a new Boeing, and that’s really what we’re doing here, we’re creating a new Boeing.”

That sentiment will come into focus over the next several months, as Boeing completes its 787 Dreamliner plant in North Charleston and production begins in July 2011. The first wide-body jets are scheduled to roll out of the $750 million facility in 2012.

When the line is fully operational, three planes will be churned out each month.

“For the last 94 years, our company has been Seattle’s most recognizable,” Conner said. “And every airplane, every commercial airplane, that we have delivered has come out of one our hangars on the Puget Sound. In early 2012, that is no longer going to be the case.”

Although the first Dreamliners — from that Puget Sound plant, in Everett, Wash. — are supposed to be delivered in March, a fire aboard a test flight Monday has indefinitely halted the testing program while the company investigates.
Boeing officials said that a power control panel failure led to an insulation fire that caused “significant” damage to the panel. Further inspection will take several days. It remains unclear whether significant damage was done to any adjacent structure or systems, or whether the incident will cause delivery delays, officials said.

“We just had a slight little mishap the other day,” Conner said during his speech. “That’s why we flight-test, right?”

Boeing lost eight 787 sales this week, yet Conner said that 30% to 40% of the company’s $321 billion backlog is tied to the new plane, which is three years behind schedule after numerous setbacks.

As for the work force in South Carolina, Conner said that someone who starts as a new hire at the North Charleston plant could one day run it or assume an even larger role with Boeing.

“It happens,” he said.