Boeing opens new Everett Delivery Center

Boeing today opened its new, 180,000sf delivery center at Everett Paine Field. The three-gate EDC is three times the size of the previous center that was roughly on the same site (the new EDC parking lot displaced the old center), and it’s a whiz-bang design that has high-tech “signing rooms,” entertainment areas and plenty of conference rooms and work stations.

And it has windows, something the old center basically lacked. The new center has a panoramic view of the KPAE flight line (which is filled with 787s and 747-8s right now).

ANA787_EDC

ANA Boeing 787 at the new Everett Delivery Center, seen through the panoramic windows looking west. (Scott Hamilton photo.)

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Deliveries were often effected at the Future of Flight Museum across the tarmac or at a temporary delivery center at the south end of KPAE.

Pat Shanahan, VP of Aircraft Programs for Boeing, noted that in 2010, Boeing Everett delivered 86 wide-body aircraft, followed by 105 in 2011 and 183 last year (a record). He expects another record to be set this year and still another next year.

KPAE EDC Exterior

The exterior of the new Boeing Everett Delivery Center is gun-metal grey, with sweeping airplane-like features inside and out. The band was but one of a group of international entertainers for the opening. (Scott Hamilton photo.)

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Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, in remarks at the opening, vowed to “win” 777X production for the State at Everett. We asked Shanahan following the ceremony if the Everett facility has room for a seamless transition from the 777 current generation to the 777X; or whether something would have to be moved out of the plant, similar to shifting stuff around at Renton to make room for the 737 MAX; or whether production of one of the aircraft currently assembled at Everett would have to cease to make room. Shanahan, not surprisingly, dodged a direct answer and said only Boeing has “options.”

Jay Inslee

Boeing executive Pat Shanahan (left) and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee following the opening of the Everett Delivery Center at Paine Field. (Scott Hamilton photo.)

11 Comments on “Boeing opens new Everett Delivery Center

  1. Competition in delivery centre is heating between Boeing and Airbus.

    Would will be the first one to add a spa and a casino? 🙂

  2. “And it has windows, something the old center basically lacked. The new center has a panoramic view of the KPAE flight line (which is filled with 787s and 747-8s right now).”

    To have windows is great to let the light come in, but it’s even greater if it gives a panoramic view on the flight line where the action is. That’s what the customers want to see.

    When the current crisis will be over the customers will be proud to take delivery of their Dreamliners in a modern facility that is more in tune with the product.

  3. The Dreamlifter can AFAIK accommodate 777 fuselage barrels, but not the 777X wing. Not difficult, therefore, to predict that the 777X FAL will move to Charleston where the 777X wing factory in all likelihood will be located. Why else would they have bought up all that land? 777 fuselage assembly would remain at Everett, and would arrive in Charleston in three sections – just like the A350 does at TLS.

    • I am 100% confident that 777X production will remain in Everett. If there are plans to put a 777 final assembly line in South Carolina they are super-secret and an enormous amount of planning work is being done for no reason. Raising this uncertainty, I suspect, serves the interests of several parties which is the only reason this issue hasn’t been settled publicly.

  4. Seems to me that a new delivery centre such as this would indicated some sort of final assembly presence in Everett for some time to come. Hardly seems economical to flay aircraft up from Charleston only to deliver them.

    That would be following the efficient Airbus A380 delivery plan.

    • Well, the cost of a delivery center is in the millions of dollars, while the cost of the 777X project will be in the billions of dollars.

      Boeing will still have a large presence at Everett and Airbus has delivery centers at TLS and at XFW. Boeing could easily put up an additional delivery center at Charleston as well.

  5. Connetable :
    I am 100% confident that 777X production will remain in Everett. If there are plans to put a 777 final assembly line in South Carolina they are super-secret and an enormous amount of planning work is being done for no reason. Raising this uncertainty, I suspect, serves the interests of several parties which is the only reason this issue hasn’t been settled publicly.

    At Airbus a Final Assembly Line (FAL) carries out only about 5 percent of the total work in building an aircraft. All of the 777X fuselage production would remain at Everett.

    Boeing will have to set up an all new production infrastructure for the all new composite wing. The fact of the matter is that this is going to be a massive undertaking.

    At Broughton in Wales they don’t even build the wing covers for the A350 wing. That’s being done in Illescas, Spain for the wing lower cover and in Stade, Germany for the wing upper cover.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpU9jDufqZw

  6. I’d like to see some pictures from the third floor. I like the Honolulu airport and San Francisco airport A concourse where you can look down on the aircraft from the upper level.

  7. Rudy Hillinga Why is filling out these two lines a new equirement every time I write somethingScott?

    I am baffled by the apparent “one a/p only” airplane delivery position at the new
    delivery centre in Everett!
    Surely, they have to deliver at least five 787, 747 & 767’s per day! With only these
    five deliveries/day, they will be forced “to stand in line” to get up to the windows
    of the new facility, every 1.5 hours during an 8 hr. day!

    • The second sentence of the post says: “The three-gate EDC is three times the size of the previous center….”

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