SEATTLE // Boeing is soliciting bids from more than a dozen locations that want to build the new 777X airplane and secure thousands of jobs along with it, a company official said on Saturday.
Spokesman Doug Alder said requests for proposals began going out on Friday. Boeing wants the proposals returned in a few weeks, and the company hopes to make a final decision early next year.
Mr Alder declined to specify the locations of interest but said each had asked for the chance to compete for the 777X work and met the company’s qualifications. He also declined to discuss the criteria the company will use to assess bids.
“We’ll look at what might best fit our needs,” Mr Alder said.
Officials in Alabama, California, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas and Utah are among those who have talked about trying to lure Boeing.
Production of the plane will likely mean thousands of long-term jobs for whichever location Boeing selects.
Boeing had initially offered to build the 777X in Washington state but had sought concessions from union machinists in exchange for the guarantee. The union rejected a proposed contract, leading Boeing to immediately begin talks with other locations.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union earlier this month rejected a contract offer that would have meant the work stayed in the company’s traditional manufacturing site in the Puget Sound area, but with diminished benefits.
Unions representing more than 60,000 Boeing workers, most of whom work in Puget Sound, issued a joint statement late on Friday saying they are ready to meet the challenge of designing and manufacturing the 777X.
Mr Adler said Boeing is looking for one or more locations for work that will include wing fabrication and final assembly.
“We still have no plans to re-engage with the machinists in Puget Sound,” he said on Saturday.
The contract extension for Boeing workers in the Puget Sound area would have cut pensions and health-care benefits, slowed the rate of wage increases for new employees and provided a US$10,000 cash bonus per member.
Washington state officials still plan to compete for the work. The state recently approved tax breaks valued at $9 billion over the coming years and legislation to improve aerospace training programmes and the permit issuing process.
“That’s going to be stressed strongly in whatever we do going forward,” said David Postman, a spokesman for Washington governor Jay Inslee.
Boeing launched a long-awaited new version of its 777 passenger jet with 259 orders from four airlines at the Dubai Airshow last week.
Boeing chairman James McNerney said the order, based on commitments worth some $100bn at list prices, was the largest combined order in the company’s history.
The company began offering the 777X in May, but it is still finalising plans for the plane. Boeing has said it is expected to carry as many as 400 passengers and be more fuel efficient than the current 777. The company is aiming to deliver the first aircraft by the end of the decade. Airplane purchases are typically made years in advance as airlines and producers plan out their large expenses long into the future.
The long-range, twin-aisle 777 holds about 365 passengers, making it Boeing’s second-biggest plane. Since its first flight in 1994, it has been a best-seller for Boeing, which has sold more 777s than any of its other current large planes.
