Magazine Reports Boeing to Close Assembly Lines

Boeing Co. is planning to close its 737 and 757 jetliner assembly lines at its factory in this south Seattle suburb and relocate them to its huge wide-body assembly plant in Everett, 30 miles to the north, BusinessWeek reported Thursday.

The move, BusinessWeek said, could save Boeing an estimated $1 billion a year.

Boeing employs about 8,000 people at the plant on the south shore of Lake Washington. The magazine said workers would be given the option of transferring to the new production lines at Everett, and that Boeing would rely on attrition to trim any unneeded jobs.

Citing unidentified sources within the company, the magazine said Boeing also plans to accelerate its effort to contract out more component work, eliminate a number of suppliers and sell off surplus real estate in the 27 states where Boeing has sites.

In a statement Thursday, Boeing said no decisions had been made. “We’ve got to be competitive to keep people employed. Looking at how we are using our facilities is one way to do that,” the statement said. “Awareness of our various studies [has] led to rumors about possible decisions. Since study activity is continuing, we won’t comment or speculate on possible outcomes or individual scenarios until a decision is made.”

“We continue to be in a tight, competitive environment,” Boeing spokesman John Kvasnosky told BusinessWeek. “We have to continue to keep reducing costs.”