Aircraft

By Darren Shannon in Washington, DC

Boeing today marked the beginning of major assembly of its 787 with the start of Fuji Heavy Industries’ (FHI’s) construction of the aircraft’s centre wing section.

“When I look at this piece of structure coming together I know that we are seeing the future of our industry,” said Boeing vide president and 787 general manager Mike Bair today at FHI’s factory in Handa, Japan.

“We have introduced new materials, new processes, new tools and a new way of working together that is ushering in a new era in commercial aviation.”

Once the centre wing section is completed, it will be flown from Japan to Charleston, South Carolina, where another contractor Global Aeronautica will integrate it with other 787 structures before sending it on for final assembly in Everett, Washington.

“FHI has received extraordinary support from Boeing and other global partners,” says FHI Aerospace president Norihisa Matsuo.

“The start of major assembly is really the result of the effort of the entire team. We are very proud of achieving major assembly start of 787 programmes as a milestone as scheduled today.”

Blog:
Read Guy Norris on his round-the-World tour of Boeing 787 plants including FHI.