2015 Stories of the Year: Boeing announces huge investment in Bibb
No. 8 Story of the Year
January 1, 2016
2015 Stories of the Year: Boeing announces huge investment in Bibb
The Boeing Co. will invest $81.7 million in the existing facility in Macon’s Airport Industrial Park and create about 200 new jobs.
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, Bruce Dickinson, vice president and general manager of Boeing’s 747 program at Boeing Commercial Airplanes in Seattle, said in September when the conversion was announced.
The Boeing 747-8 — a wide-body jet airliner — serves as a passenger and cargo airplane. It is the largest version of the 747, is the largest commercial aircraft built in the U.S. and is the longest passenger aircraft in the world.
The Macon plant will be manufacturing the fuselage panels for 12 airplanes a year, which then will be hauled by rail to Seattle. The first production work is expected to begin in 2018, with the first shipment going out the next year.
This story was originally published January 1, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "2015 Stories of the Year: Boeing announces huge investment in Bibb."