(Reuters) – Boeing mentioned on Thursday it plans to spend $1 billion to assist elevated manufacturing of its 787 Dreamliner widebody jets, because the U.S. planemaker works to satisfy an earlier output goal of 10 a month by 2026.
Boeing plans to broaden operations at its Charleston County, South Carolina, facility with the $1 billion funding in infrastructure upgrades and the creation of 500 new jobs over 5 years, the planemaker mentioned in a joint announcement with the South Carolina Department of Commerce.
The funding and enlargement lay the groundwork for “potential future price will increase pushed by market demand,” Boeing mentioned. The U.S. planemaker faces strain from European rival Airbus which has introduced plans to boost output of its competing A350 to 12 a month by 2028.
After a protracted lull, demand for widebody planes is accelerating sharply as airways renew capability as demand grows for worldwide journey.
Boeing is making an attempt to ramp up aircraft output to generate wanted money, after a crippling strike this autumn halted manufacturing of all however its Dreamliner jets.
Boeing’s announcement reaffirms an earlier goal of 10 Dreamliner jets a month introduced throughout an organization investor day in 2022. Hitting that price can be a steep climb for the planemaker, given present manufacturing ranges and challenges as Boeing wrestles with manufacturing high quality issues.
Boeing has been making an attempt to convey 787 manufacturing again to a price of 5 a month by the tip of 2024, after scaling again output earlier this yr on account of supply-chain delays in getting seats and warmth exchangers. Boeing has mentioned its 787 manufacturing price was 5 per thirty days over the last quarter of 2023.
(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru. Additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris and Dan Catchpole in Seattle; Editing by Pooja Desai and Matthew Lewis)
