Boeing adds new manager as 787 production increases

The Boeing Co. is adding another manager to the 787 program as the company boosts Dreamliner production.

Boeing named Kim Pastega as vice president and deputy general manager of the 787 program. Pastega’s role is a new one and was announced in a message to employees sent Wednesday from Pat Shanahan, senior vice president of airplane programs, and Larry Loftis, vice president and general manager of the 787 program.

Pastega soon will transition from her current role as general manager of the 767 program in Everett to the Dreamliner program. Her replacement on the 767 has yet to be named.

Having recently delivered a 787 to Air India, the fifth airline to receive one, the program is entering a new phase, Shanahan and Loftis wrote.

“This next phase encompasses improving in-service reliability and increasing our production capacity. Now is a critical time to focus our efforts on stabilizing the airplane design and the global production system,” they wrote.

Boeing’s goal is to increase 787 production to a rate of 10 Dreamliners monthly by the end of 2013.

Pastega brings lean manufacturing experience to the 787 program. She has overseen the 767 as the program’s footprint in the Boeing factory has shrunk but at the same time increased in rate. Pastega also played a role as Boeing prepared the 767 line to be ready to build 767-based refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force after winning a $35 billion contract.

Both Pastega and Loftis were managers on the 777 as production on that Everett-built jet became more efficient.

Pastega “will ensure the 787 deploys lean principles across the extended global supply chain, improves efficiency, and drives greater profitability,” Loftis and Shanahan wrote.

Earlier this year, Boeing shifted management on its 777 and 787 programs, moving Loftis to the Dreamliner and putting Scott Fancher as general manager of the 777 as the company ponders an upgrade on that aircraft.