Well, that was worth the wait.
The first Boeing 787 to take to the sky lifted off majestically from Paine Field Tuesday morning, carrying with it an unmistakable message: Puget Sound remains the world’s premier center for aerospace excellence and innovation.
As the Dreamliner sailed slowly over Possession Sound at the start of a 3-hour maiden flight, a lump of pride had to swell in the throats of thousands watching live and on television. This moment had been delayed several times over 28 months, but on this day there was no hint of frustration. Boeing’s highly skilled Puget Sound workforce had come through again, overcoming obstacles to make yet another game-changing jetliner a reality.
Much has changed in the aerospace industry, and Boeing in particular, since the last maiden flight of an all-new line here — the 777 in 1994. There was the merger with McDonnell Douglas in 1997, and the move of Boeing headquarters from Seattle to Chicago in 2001. The announcement in October that a second 787 plant would be built in South Carolina rather than Everett was just the latest reminder that the company Bill Boeing founded in Seattle nearly a century ago was no longer just a local one.
Still, the engineering genius behind the lighter, more fuel-efficient Dreamliner was based in Puget Sound. The major design work was done here. When the global production scheme proved highly problematic, Boeing workers in Everett took over to fix suppliers’ errors.
Global production may have been the idea, but the heart, soul and brains of the Dreamliner are all Puget Sound.
As testing continues and the 787 moves toward final certification, the pace of production will increase and memories of early problems will fade. But the pride we all feel in the accomplishment of this first flight, truly a monumental achievement, will remain.
It should remind us all that aerospace is more than an economic engine. It helps define our region, and has for generations. It should also remind Boeing’s leadership that the trained, dedicated force of engineers, Machinists and other workers it has here is an unmatchable asset.
Working together in an atmosphere of cooperation and trust, there’s no limit to what the company and those workers can accomplish. May the success of this historic moment serve as a lasting reminder of that.
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