With the state focused intently on swine flu this year, another epidemic has gone nearly unnoticed in Washington.
It is aerospaceitis, an illness marked by an excessive preoccupation with the loss of the industry of the same name and departure of its behemoth flagship, the Boeing Co.
The malady, historically found only among state political figures, is spreading into the general population. It’s reached the level of a phase 4 pandemic which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines as being characterized by sustained human-to-human transmission.
In January, infections had been found in three known communities — the Aerospace Futures Alliance, the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance and Inland Northwest Aerospace Consortium.
These sufferers have been managing their disease in private, emerging periodically to publicly raise hell about looming threats, real and imagined, to the state’s airplane makers.
In recent months, the number of infected has soared, creating entire new colonies of afflicted such as the Washington Council on Aerospace, the governor’s subcabinet on aerospace and the Washington Aerospace Partnership.
And politicians such as Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon, Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and Gov. Chris Gregoire seem to be feeling its effects worse than ever.
The outbreak and intensification of illness appear traceable to two factors.
First, some individuals and organizations are purposefully contracting the virus. They want to be associated with aerospace-saving efforts in order to immunize themselves against blame should Boeing ever depart and the industry die.
Second, the explosive spread of aerospaceitis seems to indicate many people in many places are rushing to fill a perceived void of leadership by Gregoire. They say privately this circumstance is hurting efforts to convince Boeing to open a second line of production for the Dreamliner here.
Gregoire is viewed as having fallen out of favor with organized labor and Boeing management starting late last year.
She upset some machinists when she made efforts to avert the strike even after workers voted to walk out.
Then Gregoire visited the picket line three times, which did not go unnoticed in Boeing’s Chicago headquarters.
Next came the 2009 legislative session when she enraged workers with her role in the infamous e-mail caper that killed a major union initiative.
Later in the session, her fellow Democrats running the Legislature scuttled her pro-aerospace bills — including creation of a governor’s advisory council. They nearly botched unemployment insurance reforms considered pivotal to completing the 787 production line puzzle.
Around April, Gregoire got a polite brush-off from Boeing. She planned to fly to Chicago to meet with the company’s chief executive, Jim McNerney. The message came back she should stay home as there really wasn’t much for the two forces to chat about.
By then, an array of elected and unelected figures in the state began talking about what to do. More councils and committees formed, their membership discussing the same concerns in different venues.
For example, Reardon will host a summit July 28 in Lynnwood billed as “Saving Washington Aerospace.” Speakers will include “champions” of aerospace, though Murray and Gregoire are not on the bill.
Meanwhile Murray and Stephanson are working separately off stage to construct a lasting truce between Boeing and its unions — considered the single most important factor for the future of aerospace.
The goal is getting labor to pledge to seek alternatives to striking and Boeing to commit to making Washington the primary manufacturing home for the Dreamliner.
Pressure is building. Boeing’s expected acquisition of one of its suppliers, Vought Aircraft Industries in South Carolina, would give it the ability to launch a second production line. That also solidifies Boeing’s bargaining position with forces in Washington.
Back to Gregoire. Since late April, she’s shown signs of getting off the disabled list and re-establishing her footing in this debate — though she’d object strongly to the notion she had ever been sidelined.
She’s got an aerospace czar toiling effectively to harmonize the divergent political efforts while she tends to strained personal relationships.
She’s eyeing a trip to the Midwest, and no one in Chicago is texting her to stay home.
There’s something healing, and maybe revealing, about that.
Read more about politics on Jerry Cornfield’s blog, The Petri Dish. Contact him at 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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