Fri, Jul 15, 2011
Refurbished Facility In Renton, WA, Will Accommodate All 737
Models
With production on its workhorse 737 ramping up over the next
several years, Boeing has opened a new paint hangar near its
Renton, WA, facility that will help increase its Next-Generation
737 production capacity. The 737 program currently produces 31.5
airplanes per month and expects to go to 35 per month in early
2012, 38 per month in second quarter 2013 and then to 42 per month
in the first half of 2014.
One of the first airplanes to be painted in the facility, a
737-700 for Southwest Airlines, was completed Wednesday. Paint
crews began work in the facility at the beginning of this month and
now have incorporated the facility into the 737 production system.
The state-of-the-art facility was refurbished in collaboration with
the city of Renton.
The paint hangar was originally built in the late 1950s at the
start of the 707 program. The hangar also was used to paint 727s
and 757s until 1994. The refurbished hangar is 165,000 cubic
feet by volume. The state-of-the-art environmental control and
fire suppression systems meet all environmental and safety
requirements. The hangar is equipped to paint all Next-Generation
737 models: -600, -700, -800 and -900. A crew of about eight
painters can paint an entire 737 in about three days, depending on
the detail of the customer's livery.
"The City of Renton is working very closely with Boeing to
ensure its ramp up of production of the 737 is seamless," said
Renton Mayor Denis Law. "Coupled with Boeing's signing of a 20-year
lease agreement for the Renton Municipal Airport, we view the
capital improvements such as those at the paint hangar as important
signals that Renton will continue to be a center of commercial
airplane manufacturing for many years to come. We will continue to
do everything we can to ensure Boeing's continued success."
"We identified this paint hangar as a key piece of
infrastructure to support our future plans for increased 737
production several years ago," said Beverly Wyse, vice president
and general manager, 737 program. "We have a measured approach to
meeting rate increases on the program. Bringing this facility
online demonstrates our progress."
Boeing expects that the market for single-aisle aircraft will
continue to grow over the next decade and beyond. With that
outlook, the 737 program is taking several steps to ensure enough
capacity to meet market demand.
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