Boeing Buys Vought Plant Key to Dreamliner Project

Aircraft designer/builder Boeing Co. reports it completed its acquisition of the Vought Aircraft Industries business and operations in North Charleston, SC. The plant is the site of some critical fabrication, assembly, and systems installation for aft fuselage sections of Boeing’s 787 aircraft, the so-called Dreamliner.

The 787 is a mid-sized, wide-body, twin-engine jet airliner still under development, but said to be critical to the future of Boeing and to commercial aviation. After many production delays it’s now scheduled to start service in May 2010.

The purchase of the Vought plant was announced first in early July. Boeing said then the sale price was approximately $580 million.

The plant will be renamed Boeing Charleston, and will be managed by the 787 program as a wholly owned subsidiary. Boeing Charleston will continue fabricating fabrication, assembling, and installing systems for 787 fuselage sections, which are made primarily of composite materials.