SEATTLE – A CITY WHERE JUMBO JETS ARE BORN

A feature by Salbiah Said who was in Seattle, Washington, recently

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 6 (Bernama) -- The port city of Seattle has a reputation
for heavy coffee consumption. This explains why there is a Starbucks café nearly
every corner of the street.

That is not all that is known about Seattle, which is the home of Starbucks,
with 69 cafes under its wings to quench the thirst of its residents and
tourists. Besides made famous by rock legend Jimi Hendrix, it is also a city
where jumbo jets are born.

Better known as jet city, Seattle, which is located in Washington, the
United States, and a major gateway to Asia, Alaska and the rest of the world, is
home to Boeing’s jumbo jets.

This writer was among a group of Malaysian journalists who were flown into
Seattle by Malaysia Airlines (MAS) after spending the night at Los Angeles from
Kuala Lumpur in October.

Sponsored by the national carrier and hosted by Boeing Commercial Airplanes,
the group was taken on a tour of the aircraft giant’s manufacturing facilities
in Seattle.

The trip from Oct 11 to Oct 16 was organised prior to the delivery of MAS’
latest Next-Generation 737-800 aircraft equipped with the new passenger-inspired
Boeing Sky Interior.


RENTON, HOME TO RENOWNED AIRPLANES

At Renton, which is sited 21km southeast of Seattle and home to many of
commercial aviation’s most renowned airplanes, including the 707, 727, 737 and
757, the group saw workers assemble the 737s, one of them MAS’ new single-aisle
B737-800 on a moving line.

Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company, introduced the moving assembly
line to automobile manufacturing a century ago. The concept helps reduce the
time to assemble the airplane and also cuts inventory and production costs.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes performs major assembly of all 737s at its
factories in the United States. However, parts for the airplanes come from
suppliers all over the world, including Malaysia.

The first 737 rolled out of the Renton factory in January 1967. The 737, a
short-to-medium range single-aisle workhorse, is the world’s best selling
commercial jet. It has received more than 8,400 orders for all models of the
twin-engine plane from more than 80 customers worldwide.

In September, Boeing announced that its production rate for the
Next-Generation 737 programme will increase to 38 airplanes per month in the
second quarter of 2013.

The decision comes just months after announcing a rate increase on the
company’s best-selling commercial jetliner from 31.5 to 35 airplanes per month
in early 2012.

Boeing delivered 372 of the single-aisle 737s last year — a little more than
one a day. Its chief rival, Europe's Airbus, delivered 402 of its comparable
A320 family of planes in the same period.

The 2010 Current Market Outlook, Boeing’s long-term forecast of air traffic
volumes and commercial airplane demand, projects a market of over 21,000
single-aisle airplanes over the next 20 years, accounting for an anticipated 69
percent of the airplanes delivered and an estimated 47 percent of the US$3.6
trillion total market value.

EVERETT FACTORY DRAWING VISITORS

Next on the Malaysian group itinerary was a tour of Boeing Everett factory,
40km north of the city, which has been drawing thousands of visitors since its
opening in 1968.

During that year, more than 39,000 visitors toured the Boeing Everett
factory where the 747, the largest airplane in the world was being built. The
complex is ranked as the planet’s biggest building by volume by the Guinness
Book of World Records.

As the company’s wide-body jet stable expanded, the factory’s roofline
spread across 98.3 acres (39.8 hectares) and enclosed 472 million cubic feet
(13.3 million cubic metres) of space. Today, more than 100,000 people visit the
factory annually.

Some of the Everett factory’s most notable visitors include former Prime
Minister of Malaysia, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former US President Bill Clinton,
the late Russian President Boris Yeltsin and the late King Hussein of Jordan.

Also known as Boeing city, the factory, which employs about 30,000 people,
is like a small city, equipped with its own fire department, security force,
fully equipped medical clinic, electrical substations and water treatment plant.

After a brief video clip of Boeing, the Malaysian media were each given
protective goggles before starting the tour.

With host Linda Lee, Boeing representative for international communications
for China, East and Southeast Asia, behind the wheels of a golf cart, the group
witnessed planes in various stages of production during the floor tour.

The Everett factory is where the long-haul aircraft – the 747s, 767s, 777s
and the majestic 787 Dreamliners – were produced.

FACTORY FLOOR CAN HOLD 15 JETS

The factory floor can hold 15 jets in various stages of construction, plus
dozens of wings, tails and other body parts. In one bay, a visitor can get to
see four jetliners, with technicians and workers crawling inside, over and
around them.

The best view to capture these moments at the massive Boeing factory was
from the open-air observation decks. One could see workers crawl like ants over
the planes, assembling fuselages, attaching wings and installing jet engines
from the top.

Workers get around on bicycles beneath ceiling-mounted cranes which move
aeroplane sections around the building. There are 1,300 bicycles and tricycles
in the factory that are used by employees to get around.

An interesting feature in the Everett factory is pedestrian tunnels which
are utilised for operating the utilities and comes in handy during winter. There
are 2.33 miles or 3.7 kilometres of pedestrian tunnels running below the
factory.

At the Everett factory, employees work around the clock, with special teams
making sure that mechanics working on the airplanes have all the tools and parts
they need. As many as a million parts in 360,000 assemblies convert empty
fuselage tubes from hollow shells into flying machines.

Most of Boeing’s aircraft components (a 747 is made up of about six million)
are manufactured elsewhere and come to Everett by truck, ship, rail and jet.
Assembly then takes around four months.

Assembling a 737 is a complex job. Factory employees must take 367,000
parts; an equal number of bolts, rivets and other fasteners; and 36 miles (58
kilometres) of electrical wire; and put them all together to form an airplane.

Each plane is assembled in sections, which are wired up and fitted out
before being joined together. The planes are then towed to a final assembly area
where seats, carpet and other interior fittings are added.

Planes are then taken to a separate hangar to be painted. Up to 272kg of
paint is used on bigger jets. The planes are then tested on an adjoining air
field, known as Paine Field, and taken for two test flights before finally being
delivered to customers.

The world’s largest building by volume is also home to the world’s largest
digital graphic mural that adorns the main Boeing Everett factory. The mural
covers all six factory doors on the south side of the building.

The Guinness Book of World Records has recognised the mural, which comprises
more than 9,290 sq metres of film prints, as the largest digital graphic in the
world.

-- BERNAMA