A proud moment to build on
Published 12:01 am Tuesday, September 27, 2011
A sense of pride, joy and accomplishment rightly eclipsed 40 months of delays on Monday as the Boeing Co. delivered the first 787 Dreamliner to All Nippon Airways in a ceremony at the company’s Everett factory.
The sight of proud Boeing employees and executives gathered around an airplane that truly is revolutionary — a marvel of technological innovation — was a reminder that the aerospace industry’s imprint on our region is so much more than economic. It’s cultural, and it runs deep, across generations.
The first commercial jetliner made of light-weight composite materials — a model that will save airlines millions of dollars in fuel costs while treating passengers to new standards of comfort — was designed and assembled right here, by engineers and machinists who are world leaders in their crafts. That fact stands far above the hard production and supply chain lessons that the company learned leading up to this celebratory day.
It’s a reminder that aerospace jobs are good jobs that we should want to keep here — not just for the obvious economic impact, but because Boeing’s products are a significant point of pride to families throughout the region.
The 787 represents a success for the region to build on. The opening of a production line in South Carolina was and remains controversial, but it’s also a reality that points to the importance of making Puget Sound the best place for Boeing and other aerospace companies to do their work. Nothing can be taken for granted.
That means planning to expand education and training opportunities, despite the state’s short-term budget picture. Keeping a pipeline of highly skilled engineers and factory workers is essential to maintaining Washington as an international aerospace hub.
Against a competitive backdrop where other states can use enormous tax breaks and other, more direct inducements to draw aerospace companies, it means being vigilant about developing a welcoming business climate — which includes maintaining an effective and efficient transportation system for people and freight.
All that, of course, pays off in good-paying jobs beyond the aerospace sector. These priorities are foundational to ensuring a strong economy and high quality of life throughout the region.
The Dreamliner is truly a platform for aviation’s future, but it’s also a symbol for where our state’s political priorities must be — on making Washington, through education and other policies, the place where the aerospace workforce of the future will design and build the next great jetliner, and the next, and the next …
