Boeing Gearing Up in Carolinas

For openers, Boeing is firmly established in Washington, where it employs 73,000 people, mostly in the Seattle area. But that is not to say the company is happily wedded to the area.

In 2001, it moved its headquarters to Chicago. In 2003, it searched the world for a site for the first assembly line for the aircraft then called the 7E7 before settling on Everett.

At the time, Boeing laid out criteria including a major seaport, a nearby runway, a moderate climate, available land and high quality of life. The finalists included Charleston as well as Kinston, N.C., and Mobile, Ala., the Seattle Times reported.

Today, the two plants are immediately adjacent to Charleston International Airport and close by major facilities of the Port of Charleston, a major East Coast container port.

In a recent report, Broadpoint AmTech analyst Peter Amant wrote that "having a second line co-located near the Global Aeronautica JV makes tremendous logistical and financial sense." While the cost of the Vought acquisition could pressure on Boeing's share price, he said, "the one positive is (that) with 10% unemployment, state support in the form of tax breaks will be very strong." Late Tuesday morning, Boeing shares were trading down 1.85% at $39.81.

Labor is a major issue. Relations between Boeing and Local 751 of the International Association of Machinists are strained; last year, the union staged a 58-day strike, the latest in a succession of job actions. Vought workers are also represented by the IAM, which would likely seek to organize any new Boeing workers in North Charleston, but the labor climate in the South is far less contentious than it is in Seattle.