Boeing creates plane development unit, boosting production
BY FRANCINE KNOWLES Business Reporter/fknowles@suntimes.com December 3, 2012 1:48PM
A Boeing assembly line in Everett, Wash., in 2011. Boeing says it is planning the highest production levels in commercial aviation history. | Ted S. Warren~ap
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Updated: January 5, 2013 6:16AM
Boeing Co. has created an Airplane Development group, part of a new organizational structure the aerospace giant said it is putting in place for its commercial airplanes business as it boosts production rates 25 percent over the next 18 months.
The Chicago-based company disclosed the changes in an email announcement to employees Monday and noted that production will reach the highest levels in commercial aviation history.
“Successfully balancing our production and development priorities is critical to our future viability and success with customers,” Ray Conner, president and chief executive officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in a statement to employees.
Conner said the new structure “incorporates best practices and provides better line of sight for both our development and production programs. This framework will help clarify responsibility, streamline decision-making and accelerate our progress on these priorities.”
The new Airplane Development group “will focus on bringing the new-generation models—737 MAX, 767 Tanker and 787-9 through development and certification and will provide leadership on the 777X and 787-10X development work,” Conner said.
The Airplane Development group will be led by Boeing Vice President Scott Fancher, who will report directly to Conner.
More details on the new group will be shared at a later time, a spokeswoman said.
