Boeing moves 787 engineering to South Carolina right before union contract talks

Boeing shifting 300 jobs to South Carolina

Boeing told employees in late January 2026 that it will move the remaining 787 Dreamliner engineering work from Washington state to North Charleston, S.C.

Boeing said the move puts engineers alongside the planes they work on and keeps the company aligned with its commitments to customers and communities.

About 300 engineering and technical jobs will be affected. The company has not said when the jobs will move, whether workers face layoffs, or whether they can relocate.

Union says Boeing blindsided its leaders

The SPEEA engineers’ union said the announcement caught it off guard.

Just one day earlier, Boeing management told union leaders no decisions affecting members were expected anytime soon.

SPEEA Executive Director Ray Goforth called the failure to honor notification obligations “profoundly disappointing.”

The union has pressed Boeing for details and assurances that members will not lose their jobs. So far, Boeing has not answered basic questions about timing or process.

Boeing says it will hire in Washington

Boeing said it plans to hire a large number of engineers in the Puget Sound area.

Those new hires would support the 737 program and a planned fourth MAX assembly line in Everett. Boeing did not say how many engineers it plans to bring on.

The company said engineers will work alongside the programs they support, the same reasoning it gave for moving 787 jobs south.

Contract talks with SPEEA could test that promise.

Contract talks loom for 17,000 workers

SPEEA’s contract for its Puget Sound engineers and technical workers expires in October 2026, and negotiations on a new deal are expected to begin later this year.

SPEEA represents about 17,000 Boeing employees, mostly in Washington, with some in Oregon, California, and Utah.

The union says the engineering move casts a shadow over those talks. A separate SPEEA unit in Wichita ratified a new contract with Boeing in January 2026.

A two-decade shift away from Washington

Boeing launched the 787 program in Everett, Wash., in 2004 and built every early Dreamliner there.

That changed in 2009, when Boeing opened a second assembly plant in North Charleston. The first South Carolina-built 787 rolled out in 2012.

Boeing picked the site shortly after a 2008 Machinists union strike shut down 787 production for 57 days. Many observers have long viewed the South Carolina expansion as a deliberate move away from Washington’s unions.

Washington lost final assembly in 2021

In 2020, Boeing announced it would consolidate all 787 final assembly in South Carolina, calling it a cost-saving measure driven by the pandemic and a slowdown in air travel.

The last Everett-built 787 rolled off the line in February 2021. The decision shook Washington state officials and union leaders worried about the state’s aerospace future.

With the latest engineering move, almost no 787-related work will remain in Washington.

South Carolina workers are not unionized

Boeing’s South Carolina workforce does not have union representation. The state has much lower rates of union participation than Washington.

SPEEA has criticized moving workers from a unionized state to a non-union one, saying the shift could weaken worker rights.

Boeing has not publicly addressed the union dynamic. The contrast between the two workforces adds tension as SPEEA heads into contract talks later this year.

Boeings Washington workforce keeps shrinking

Washington still holds Boeing’s largest share of workers, with more than 65,000 employees. But that number dropped by about 2,500 in 2025.

Boeing laid off about 2,200 Washington workers in early 2025 as part of a company-wide 10 percent workforce reduction.

Meanwhile, Boeing’s South Carolina workforce grew about 10 percent in 2025 to more than 9,000 people. South Carolina was the only state where Boeing added a large number of workers last year.

Dreamliner demand is surging worldwide

The 787 Dreamliner backlog stands at nearly 1,000 planes, with more than 300 new orders added in 2025 alone.

Major recent deals include 130 Dreamliners for Qatar Airways and orders from British Airways, Delta Air Lines, and Turkish Airlines.

Boeing says roughly 90 customers worldwide have ordered more than 2,250 Dreamliners total. That makes the 787 the best-selling widebody passenger airplane in history, and demand shows no signs of slowing.

Boeing investing $1 billion in South Carolina

Boeing broke ground in November 2025 on a major expansion of its South Carolina campus. The company is investing more than $1 billion and plans to create more than 1,000 new jobs over five years.

The expansion includes a new final assembly building roughly the size of the current one, about 1.2 million square feet.

Boeing first set up operations in South Carolina in 2009 and now runs campuses in North Charleston and Orangeburg.

Production ramping up fast at South Carolina

Boeing’s 787 production has risen from about five planes per month in early 2025 to about seven or eight now. The company aims to reach 10 per month in 2026.

At peak production in 2018, Boeing built 14 Dreamliners per month, split between Everett and South Carolina.

Boeing now wants to eventually produce up to 16 per month at the expanded South Carolina site. CEO Kelly Ortberg has said the jump from eight to 10 will be tougher because of supply chain issues.

Timeline for job moves remains unclear

Boeing has not disclosed when the 300 engineering jobs will move. Whether affected workers will face layoffs or get relocation offers remains an open question.

SPEEA contract negotiations for the Puget Sound workforce are expected to begin later this year, and the outcome may show whether Boeing’s relationship with its Washington workforce can stabilize.

Washington state officials and unions continue to push Boeing to launch future airplane programs in the state.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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