1,000th 767 to be lauded today

Published 9:28 am Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Boeing Co. officials were planning to celebrate the beginning of the assembly of the 1,000th 767 at the company’s Everett plant today.

Production of the jet has been slow in recent years, but the company expects things to pick up significantly if it wins the $30 billion contract to build a new refueling tanker for the Air Force.

The tanker would be built on a 767 airframe.

The successful bidder could be announced late this year or early next year. Boeing is competing for the work with Europe’s Airbus.

Boeing has already begun major remodeling work at the Everett plant to be ready to create a moving 767 production line in the world’s largest building.