Tag Archives: Charleston

PEOPLExpress to start Charleston, WV-Orlando flights

PEOPLExpress Airlines (2nd) (Newport News/Williamsburg) today announced new, nonstop service between Charleston’s Yeager Airport and Orlando International Airport effective on October 16.

Service between Charleston and Orlando will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays with Boeing 737-400 aircraft operated by Vision Airlines.

Charleston is the first destination to be added outside the PEOPLExpress base at Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport.

PEOPLExpress launched service June 30 to Newark, N.J., Boston and Pittsburgh from Newport News and has since added West Palm Beach, Florida, Atlanta, New Orleans and St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Florida.

Boeing to build the new 787-10 in North Charleston, SC

Boeing (Chicago and Seattle) has announced that final assembly of the 787-10, the newest and longest member of the 787 Dreamliner family of airplanes, will take place exclusively in North Charleston, South Carolina.

Boeing will continue to assemble both 787-8s and 787-9s in Everett, Washington, and North Charleston. Design of the 787-10 is underway in Everett, with final assembly of the first 787-10 scheduled to begin in South Carolina in 2017.

“We looked at all our options and found the most efficient and effective solution is to build the 787-10 at Boeing South Carolina,” said Larry Loftis, vice president and general manager, 787 program, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “This will allow us to balance 787 production across the North Charleston and Everett sites as we increase production rates. We’re happy with our growth and success in South Carolina, and the continued success at both sites gives us confidence in our plan going forward.”

The 787-10 will be 18 feet (5.5 meters) longer than the 787-9. With 10 feet (3 meters) of that increase in the midbody section, the 787-10 midbody is too long to be transported efficiently from North Charleston, where systems integration work is performed, to the Everett facility for final assembly. In addition, introducing the 787-10 in North Charleston takes advantage of that facility’s capacity while allowing the Everett facility to continue improving productivity as it focuses on the 787-8 and 787-9.

The 787 production system includes three production lines: two in Everett (including a temporary surge line) and one in South Carolina. The integrated production system currently operates at a production rate of 10 airplanes per month. As announced last year, the 787 production rate will increase to 12 airplanes per month in 2016 and 14 per month by the end of the decade.

The Everett facility will continue to assemble seven airplanes per month, while Boeing South Carolina final assembly will gradually increase from three 787s per month today to five per month in 2016 and seven per month by the end of the decade.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner family of airplanes offers airlines unmatched fuel efficiencies and environmental performance, while providing a new level of comfort for passengers through the thoughtful application of new technologies. To date, the 787 family has won more than 1,000 orders and more than 165 airplanes have been delivered to 21 customers worldwide.

The 787-10 will leverage 787 technology to provide more passenger and cargo capacity along with unparalleled seat-mile economics in the medium twin-aisle market. Since its launch in June 2013, the 787-10 has won 132 orders from six global customers.

US Airways to add three new routes from Philadelphia

American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) and US Airways (Phoenix) have announced the addition of new regional service in June from Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) to Yeager Airport (CRW) in Charleston, West Virginia, Blue Grass Airport (LEX) in Lexington, Kentucky, and Memphis International Airport (MEM) in Memphis, Tennessee, adding three new routes to the airline’s network.

Following the launch of the new service, American Airlines and US Airways will serve 127 destinations in 25 countries from Philadelphia.

US Airways Express service between Philadelphia and Charleston will be operated once daily (except Saturday) by regional partner Piedmont Airlines with a Bombardier DHC-8 aircraft.

US Airways Express service between Philadelphia and Lexington will be operated three times per day by regional partner Air Wisconsin with a Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft.

US Airways Express service between Philadelphia and Memphis will also be operated three times per day by regional partner Air Wisconsin with a Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. Piedmont Airlines’ Bombardier DHC-8-102 N936HA (msn 145) approaches Washington’s Reagan National Airport for landing.

US Airways Express-Piedmont Airlines (2nd):

US Airways Express-Air Wisconsin:

JetBlue announces its new routes for Washington’s Reagan National Airport

JetBlue Airways (New York) today announced details of its upcoming expansion at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) with new low-fare service to three destinations beginning June 19, 2014: Charleston, South Carolina; Hartford, Connecticut; and Nassau, Bahamas (subject to receipt of government operating authority).

JetBlue plans to offer twice-daily service to both Charleston and Hartford/Springfield, as well as once-daily year-round service to Nassau. In addition to these three new destinations from Washington, JetBlue will boost its existing service to Tampa, Florida, with a second daily flight effective July 2, 2014.

Together, these six new daily departures represent half the new flights JetBlue has earned the right to operate by acquiring slots as a result of the recent American Airlines-US Airways divestiture proceedings. More details of JetBlue’s DCA expansion, which will bring the airline’s daily departure count to 30, will be announced later this year.

This summer JetBlue will offer customers 24 daily roundtrip flights from DCA to eight cities: Boston, Charleston, Hartford/Springfield, Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood, Nassau, Orlando, and Tampa, as well as the only nonstop service to San Juan, Puerto Rico from Washington’s popular downtown airport.

JetBlue’s three newest Reagan National destinations will be served with 100-seat Embraer ERJ 190 jets, featuring spacious two-by-two seating, the most legroom in coach (c), seatback entertainment including 36 channels of free DIRECTV® programming and more than 100 channels of free SiriusXM® satellite radio (d), unlimited free snacks and soft drinks, and JetBlue’s acclaimed in-flight customer service. With JetBlue, customers can also enjoy a first checked bag free of charge (e).

Schedules for JetBlue’s New Reagan National Destinations

Charleston (CHS)
DCA – CHS	CHS – DCA
12:20 p.m. – 01:53 p.m.	07:25 a.m. – 08:52 a.m.
06:30 p.m. – 08:06 p.m.	02:35 p.m. – 04:04 p.m.
Saturday schedule varies slightly

Hartford (BDL)
DCA – BDL	BDL – DCA
09:25 a.m. – 10:46 a.m.	06:35 a.m. – 07:59 a.m.
07:25 p.m. – 08:50 p.m.	06:30 p.m. – 07:54 p.m.

Nassau (NAS)*
DCA – NAS	NAS – DCA
09:55 a.m. – 12:29 p.m.	01:55 – 04:30 p.m.
Saturday schedule varies slightly. Subject to receipt of government operating authority*

In addition to its presence at Reagan National, JetBlue also serves the National Capital Region with daily flights from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. Embraer ERJ 190-100 IGW N258JB (msn 19000047) in the Windowpane tail design arrives at Washington’s Reagan National Airport (DCA).

JetBlue Airways:

Boeing is adding contract workers at the North Charleston, SC Boeing 787 plant

Boeing (Chicago) is adding hundreds of contract workers at its Boeing 787 North Charleston, South Carolina assembly plant to help deal with production problems according to the Wall Street Journal and The Post and Courier.

According to the WSJ, “Boeing is hiring more than 300 contract mechanics and inspectors immediately and could increase that number to between 500 and 1,000, according to three people familiar with the hiring. Those workers would assist the more than 7,000 people Boeing employed at the Charleston plant.”

Read the full report from The Post and Courier: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Arisara Petersen. The production flight line at North Charleston. The Air India 787s are mainly assembled at Charleston.

Boeing to expand the North Charleston, South Carolina facility

Boeing (Chicago) announced it will begin construction in the second half of 2014 on a new paint facility on its main campus in North Charleston, South Carolina. The company expects to begin painting fully assembled 787 Dreamliners in South Carolina in mid-2016.

The approximately 230,000 square-foot (21,368 m2) facility will be used to apply customer liveries to Boeing South Carolina (BSC)-built 787s. Today all BSC-built 787s are flown to Fort Worth, Texas, for final paint and then flown back to South Carolina for customer delivery.

The company also announced it acquired access to a total of 468 acres (189 hectares) in North Charleston, S.C., to protect for potential future growth in South Carolina through a long-term lease with Palmetto Railways, a division of the S.C. Department of Commerce. In addition to the 267 acres (108 hectares) sold by the Charleston County Aviation Authority, another 201 acres (81 hectares) of land in North Charleston were purchased with state bond funds allocated to Boeing. Owned by Palmetto Railways, the land will be leased to Boeing under a long- term lease. The company has an option to purchase all of the 468 acres (189 hectares) at the end of the initial lease term at the end of 2027.

“This expansion makes future growth in North Charleston possible. While we expect to begin the permitting process immediately for this property, we have no specific plans for the land other than where we will locate the new paint facility,” said Jones.

As part of the site expansion, beginning in January 2014, Boeing will construct a new 10,000 square-foot (929.03 m2) fully equipped fire station at its main campus, which is expected to be operational by late 2014. The company will add a second autoclave in 2016 to support aftbody composite fabrication for previously announced 787 program rate increases.

“We’ve been busy here in South Carolina this year,” said Jones. “Our BSC teammates have not only been ramping to rate in component and airplane production, but they’re doing it in the middle of construction zones. Our commitment to South Carolina is visibly demonstrated every day as our growth and expansion continues. I don’t expect that ending anytime soon.”

Since late 2012, Boeing has been expanding its main South Carolina site to create more efficiencies and capabilities in production to meet committed 787 build rates. Under previously announced expansion plans, the company is adding 391,000 square feet (36,325 m2) to its aftbody fabrication and assembly building; 42,000 square feet (3,901.9 m2) to its aft and midbody component paint facility; 67,000 square feet (6,224.5 m2) in office and meeting space to its final assembly building; and a new 94,000 square-foot (8,732.9 m2) Dreamlifter Operations Center, to be completed in the first quarter of 2014. The midbody component assembly facility is undergoing construction to add additional capacity and efficiency on the production floor.

In 2013, Boeing announced plans to establish IT Centers of Excellence and an Engineering Design Center, along with plans to build a new Propulsion facility in South Carolina. In November, Boeing broke ground on the new 220,000 square-foot (2,0439 m2) facility located in Palmetto Commerce Park in North Charleston (Ladson area) that will house its new 737-MAX propulsion assembly work, scheduled to begin in mid-2015.

Boeing is currently considering offers from 22 states for a possible site to build the proposed 777X airplane. South Carolina is probably one of those states. Is Charleston International Airport (CHS) the new Paine Field (PAE)?

Boeing delivers the first South Carolina-built 787 Dreamliner to Air India

Boeing (Chicago) yesterday (October 5) marked a historic milestone with delivery of the first 787 Dreamliner built at its North Charleston, South Carolina, facility to Air India (Mumbai).

According to Boeing, “the delivery continues the momentum of the 787 Dreamliner’s entry into revenue service by customers globally and marks the beginning of a new era of commercial airplane production in South Carolina.”

Work on the Boeing South Carolina Final Assembly and Delivery Center began in November 2009. Production of the first South Carolina-built 787 began in mid-2011 and the completed airplane rolled out of the factory in April.

Boeing South Carolina fabricates, integrates and assembles the midbody and aftbody fuselage sections for all 787 Dreamliners. Completed sections are joined in South Carolina Final Assembly, or transported via the Dreamlifter to 787 Final Assembly in Everett, Washington.

This delivery marks the 28^th 787 Dreamliner delivered to date. Boeing South Carolina will increase final assembly production to three 787s per month by the end of 2013.

Air India is introducing the Dreamliner on the Delhi-Chennai, Delhi-Bangalore and Delhi-Kolkata domestic routes before its international debut.

Air India:

Boeing rolls out the first 787 assembled at Charleston, South Carolina

Boeing (Chicago) yesterday (April 27) as planned rolled out the first 787 Dreamliner at the North Charleston plant located at Charleston International Airport (CHS). The first Boeing 787 Dreamliner rolled out of final assembly to great fanfare from the crowd of nearly 7,000 Boeing employees and invited guests. The festival-like atmosphere, featuring aerial displays, music and entertainment, was a fitting celebration to commemorate assembly completion of the first 787.

The airplane’s rollout marks the first time that a Boeing commercial airplane has been produced in the Southeastern United States.

Boeing announced that it had selected North Charleston, S.C., as the location for the second 787 final assembly line on October 28, 2009, and broke ground on the site in November of that year. The South Carolina final assembly facility was completed in June 2011, and production began later that same month.

The airplane next goes to the flight line, where it will go through systems checks and engine runs in advance of taxi testing and first flight. The airplane remains on schedule for delivery to Air India in mid-2012.

Boeing South Carolina also has responsibility for fabrication, integration and assembly of the 787’s midbody and aft body fuselage sections. Once complete, the fuselage sections are either delivered to the South Carolina Final Assembly facility, or transported via the Dreamlifter to Final Assembly in Everett, Washington.

The first South Carolina-assembled 787 to roll out of the Charleston factory today

Boeing (Chicago) will celebrate today the roll-out of the first South Carolina-assembled 787 Dreamliner at the North Charleston factory located at Charleston International Airport (CHS). The CHS facility is non-union.

The first SC-produced Dreamliner will go to Air India.

Read the full story from The Post and Courier: CLICK HERE

Air India Slide Show: CLICK HERE

Boeing opens new South Carolina 787 Final Assembly Building

Boeing 787-8 N787FT (msn 40694) BFI (Nick Dean) (test aircraft – ZA005), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.

Boeing (Chicago) officials along with elected officials and representatives from numerous community and business groups, suppliers and subcontractors joined more than 1,000 Boeing employees at its North Charleston, SC, facility today (June 10) for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of the new 787 Dreamliner Final Assembly building.

Boeing’s Site Services Group and BE&K/Turner, the design-build team, were recognized at the ceremony for their work in bringing construction of the building to completion six months ahead of schedule. In addition the BE&K/Turner team has worked 3.7 million labor-hours without a lost time incident. Employees began moving into the new building in May, and final assembly of the first South Carolina-built 787 Dreamliner will begin later this summer.

In April, Boeing announced that thin-film solar laminate panels would be installed on the roof of the Final Assembly building. This solar installation will provide up to 2.6 megawatts of electrical power for the site and is the largest in the Southeast by production capacity.

The new Final Assembly building features 642,720 square feet (59,711 m2) of covered space, roughly the equivalent of 10.5 football fields. More than 18,000 tons (16,329 mt) of steel and one million cubic feet (28,316.8 m3) of concrete were used in its construction. At full production rate, the South Carolina Final Assembly facility will produce three 787 Dreamliners per month.

The new facility is located at Charleston International Airport (CHS/KCHS). The airport has two runways and is operated under a joint-use agreement with the Charleston Air Force Base.

Boeing workers will have a 1,200,000 square foot building to use for the aircraft assembly. A separate 11,550-square-foot facility is being built where workers will spray airplane logos onto the aircraft tail-fins. A 36,894 square foot security checkpoint and welcome center will be built at the intersection of International Boulevard and Michaux Parkway, Boeing’s main entrance to the site.

The existing building, “The Hub”, will be remodeled, doubling its size to about 30,000 square foot. When finished it will include a large commercial kitchen, of approximately 5,000-square-foot, for employees use. It will also contain a separate section for catering. In addition to the food services, the remodeled “Hub” will feature a medical clinic, human resources office and a retail shop.

Boeing also is in the process of building a separate plant for the construction of 787 aircraft parts to include overhead bins and cabin partitions. The factory will be located off of North Charleston’s Palmetto Commerce Parkway.