The Boeing Everett Factory is an
airplane
An airplane or aeroplane (informally plane) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing configurations. The broad ...
assembly facility built by
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and ...
in
Everett, Washington
Everett is the county seat and largest city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett is the seventh-largest city in the ...
, United States. It sits at the northeast corner of
Paine Field
Paine Field , also known as Snohomish County Airport, is a commercial and general aviation airport serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located in unincorporated Snohomish County, Washington, between th ...
and includes the
largest building in the world by volume at 13,385,378 m
3 (472,370,319 cu ft) and covers . The entire complex spans both sides of
State Route 526 (named the Boeing Freeway). The factory was built in 1967 for the
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022.
After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, ...
and has since been expanded several times to accommodate new airliners, including the
767
767 may refer to:
* Boeing 767, a jet airliner
* 767 (number)
* AD 767
Year 767 ( DCCLXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 767th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Do ...
,
777
777 may refer to:
* 777 (number), a number
* AD 777, a year of the Julian calendar
* 777 BC, a year in the 8th century BC
* Boeing 777, a commercial jet airliner
:* Boeing 777X, the newer generation of the Boeing 777.
Art and entertainment Albu ...
, and
787 programs.
History and operations
Boeing has had a presence in Everett since 1943. In 1966, plans for a factory in the area for the construction of the 747 were first announced after Boeing was awarded a contract worth US$525 million (equivalent to $ million in ) from
Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United State ...
to build 25 of the aircraft. The company purchased north of the then little-used Paine Field, which was operated by the U.S. Army during World War II. The factory was officially opened on May 1, 1967, four months after the first workers had arrived to start construction of the 747.
Boeing began offering factory tours with the first rollout of the 747 in 1968.
As of 2020 over 150,000 people come each year to visit the factory, which employs over 30,000 people and has its own fire department, security team, daycare center, coffee shop, and fitness center.
The factory also houses a
Boeing Employees' Credit Union branch and several cafés. Across the airport to the west is The Boeing Store, a theater, and the
Future of Flight Aviation Center, which runs the factory tour. The Boeing Everett campus is big enough to contain Disneyland with left over for parking.
To accommodate the
Dreamlifter
The Boeing 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter (LCF) is a wide-body cargo aircraft modified extensively from the Boeing 747-400 airliner. With a volume of it can hold three times that of a 747-400F freighter.Hanson, Mary et al"Boeing Selects EGAT ...
, a converted
747-400 which delivered 787 sections to the plant, a base was constructed on the western edge of Paine Field's runway. Opening in October 2013, the base, called the Dreamlifter Operations Center, was funded by
Snohomish County with $35 million in bonds; it is owned by the county via the airport, with Boeing leasing the site and servicing the bonds.
Current production aircraft
Boeing 767
The Boeing 767 is a mid- to large-size, long-range wide-body twin-engine jet airliner. The 767-300ER, the last passenger variant in production, is capable of carrying 218 passengers in a typical three-class configuration, has a range of and a cruising speed Mach 0.80 (530 mph, 851 km/h, 470 kn). Production of this plane began in 1979.
These are the 767 variants currently in production:
*
767-300F (Freighter)
*
KC-46 Pegasus
Boeing 777
The Boeing 777 is a large-size, long-range wide-body twin-engine jet airliner. The 777-300ER, the current passenger variant in production, is capable of carrying 386 passengers in a typical three-class configuration, has a range of and a cruising speed Mach 0.84 (554 mph, 892 km/h, 482 kn). Production of this plane began in 1993.
These are the 777 variants currently in production:
*
777-300ER (Extended Range)
*
777F (Freighter)
*
777-8
*
777-9
Former production aircraft
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a large-size, long-range wide-body four-engine jet airliner. The 747-8I, the last passenger variant in production, is capable of carrying 467 passengers in a typical three-class configuration, has a range of and a cruising speed Mach 0.855 (570 mph, 918 km/h, 495 kn). The Boeing 747 was one of the first
wide-body aircraft
A wide-body aircraft, also known as a twin-aisle aircraft, is an airliner with a fuselage wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles with seven or more seats abreast. The typical fuselage diameter is . In the typical wide-body economy c ...
to be produced and was the first jet to use a wide-body configuration for carrying passengers. Because of the vast size of the 747, the Boeing Everett Factory was designed and built to accommodate the assembly of these large planes as there was not enough room at the Boeing facilities in Seattle. Production of this aircraft began in 1967 and continued until 2022, with the last 747-8F (N863GT) rolling out in December for customer
Atlas Air
Atlas Air, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, is a major American cargo airline, passenger charter airline, and aircraft lessor based in Purchase, New York. Atlas Air is the world's largest operator of the Boei ...
.
Boeing 787
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a mid-size, long-range wide-body twin-engine jet airliner. The current passenger variants in production, are capable of carrying 242–290 passengers in a typical two-class configuration, have a range of and a cruising speed of Mach 0.85 (562 mph, 902 km/h, 487 kn). Production of this plane began in 2006.
In February 2011, Boeing announced that some 787 work was being moved to a
plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae excl ...
in North Charleston, South Carolina in order to relieve overcrowding of 787s at Everett caused by large volumes of 787 orders. In July 2014, Boeing announced that the
787-10
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, ...
variant, the longest variant of the 787, would be produced exclusively in South Carolina as the fuselage pieces for that variant are too large for the
Dreamlifter
The Boeing 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter (LCF) is a wide-body cargo aircraft modified extensively from the Boeing 747-400 airliner. With a volume of it can hold three times that of a 747-400F freighter.Hanson, Mary et al"Boeing Selects EGAT ...
to fit for transport to Everett.
Undertaking drastic cost-cutting measures in the wake of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
and its resulting
impact on aviation, Boeing announced in July 2020 that it would consider consolidating all of its 787 assembly in a single location; the company chose to move all production to South Carolina on October 1, causing backlash from the Washington state government. The move was completed in February 2021; it was cemented with Boeing's agreement to transfer its lease of the Dreamlifter Operations Center to package courier
FedEx
FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...
in April 2021. FedEx, which takes over the lease on November 1, plans to use it for its
cargo airline operations.
The two 787 variants formerly produced in Everett were the
787-8 and the
787-9.
Airport
Aircraft are delivered as a whole from the
Paine Field
Paine Field , also known as Snohomish County Airport, is a commercial and general aviation airport serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located in unincorporated Snohomish County, Washington, between th ...
Snohomish County Airport, adjacent to and south of the plant.
See also
*
Boeing Renton Factory
*
Future of Flight Aviation Center & Boeing Tour
References
External links
*
{{Everett, Washington
1967 establishments in Washington (state)
Boeing manufacturing facilities
Boeing
Buildings and structures completed in 1967
Buildings and structures in Everett, Washington
Industrial buildings and structures in Washington (state)
Manufacturing plants in the United States
Manufacturing plants
Manufacturing
Manufacturing buildings and structures
Tourist attractions in Everett, Washington