Boeing to convert its Macon military plant to a commercial airplane facility

The Boeing Co. will invest $81.7 million to convert its existing military facility in Macon to a commercial manufacturing plant, creating about 200 new jobs.

“It is unprecedented,” Macon Mayor Robert Reichert said during the announcement Thursday at the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce before a crowd of about 100 people.

The converted plant will be manufacturing 747-8 fuselage panel assemblies -- which is the body of the airplane excluding the front, wings and tail of the plane, said Bruce Dickinson, vice president and general manager of Boeing’s 747 program, Boeing Commercial Airplanes in Seattle.

The Boeing 747-8 -- a wide-body jet airliner developed by Boeing -- serves as a passenger and cargo airplane. It is the largest version of the 747, which has been redesigned three times, according to a release. It is the largest commercial aircraft built in the U.S. and the longest passenger aircraft in the world. Last June, Boeing delivered the 1,500th 747 to come off the production line to Germany-based Lufthansa.

“This is a big, huge, strategic opportunity,” Dickinson said. “It will fill the factory. ... We are doing some really innovative things. It’s a very big deal to us. This is the biggest transfer of work that Boeing Commercial company has ever done, and it’s the first conversion we’ve done from a military to a commercial site.”

The Macon plant in the Airport Industrial Park will be manufacturing the fuselage panels for 12 airplanes a year, which will then be hauled by rail to Seattle, he said. The first production work is expected to begin in 2018, with the first shipment going out the next year.

The work coming to Macon is now being done by Triumph Aerostructures, a Boeing supplier.

“The (Boeing 747) is synonymous with respect and prestige, and to attract a corporation like Boeing (Commercial) to our community speaks volumes for the community as well as for the corporation,” Reichert said. “We are thrilled and delighted to have these new jobs come to Macon-Bibb County and this new commercial side of Boeing.”

Pat Topping, senior vice president of the Macon Economic Development Commission, said Boeing’s decision is a “strong statement of support” for the county, Middle Georgia and the state.

“Without their positive experience with our colleges -- technical and universities -- this project may not have happened,” Topping said in an email. “This plant has been a leader in quality and productivity in the aerospace industry, and the credit goes to the current and former leadership and team members.”

Robbie Fountain, vice chairman of the Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority, said the authority learned about Boeing’s plans about three months ago.

“We were on the brink of losing Boeing in Macon,” he said after the announcement.

In 2013, Boeing announced that it would shut down its C-17 Globemaster production line in Macon -- affecting about 300 jobs -- by the third or fourth quarter of 2015. Then in February 2014, the company announced it would discontinue work on the CH-47 Chinook helicopter in Macon, which would claim additional jobs. That work is to be phased out next year.

There are about 200 workers at the Boeing plant, and while a core of those people may move over to the commercial division, the newly created jobs will be open to all qualified workers, Dickinson said.

The Boeing site began as a McDonnell Douglas operation in 1988, working on both commercial and military aircraft programs, including the MD-80 and the C-17.

To contact writer Linda S. Morris, call 744-4223 or follow her on Twitter@MidGaBiz.

This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 6:28 PM with the headline "Boeing to convert its Macon military plant to a commercial airplane facility ."