Boeing ceremonially ushered in the start of construction on its massive 787 production expansion Nov. 7, gathering thousands of employees and local officials for a live event at its North Charleston, South Carolina, campus that also was broadcast via the company’s social media channels.
The $1 billion expansion’s focus is a new, 1.2 million-ft.² final assembly line (FAL) building that will be “similar” to the existing facility that houses two parallel lines. Boeing also is adding a parts preparation area, vertical fin paint facility, and more flight-line stalls. Its interiors center will also grow, the company said. The new FAL is expected to be ready in 2028.
“We’re doubling the size of the flight line. We’re doubling the size of the factory. We could one day have four production lines running concurrently,” said Lisa Fahl, Boeing Commercial Airplanes vice president of engineering. “That’s phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal, especially for widebody aircraft builds.”
The expansion work, announced late last year and already underway, is key to Boeing’s long-term 787 production rate plans. The current facility is transitioning from producing seven per month to eight. Plans call for the rate to increase to 10 in 2026.
At its previous peak, North Charleston produced a maximum of seven aircraft per month. Combined with the now-terminated line in Everett, Washington, the sites combined to produce a maximum of 14 aircraft per month before the COVID-19 pandemic and related production downturn. The second FAL and related facilities clear the way for Boeing to raise monthly production back to its previous 14-per-month peak and perhaps higher.
Boeing’s official backlog of 5,954 aircraft as of Sept. 30 included 993 787s—equivalent to about six years of production at a 14-per-month rate. Aviation Week Fleet Discovery shows 1,230 787 deliveries to date. Of these, 611 were produced in South Carolina.
“We continue to see strong demand for the 787 Dreamliner family and its market-leading efficiency and versatility,” Stephanie Pope, Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO. “We are making this significant investment today to ensure Boeing is ready to meet our customers’ needs in the years and decades ahead.”
Boeing used the event—which concluded with a dozen dignitaries breaking ceremonial ground with golden shovels as excavators dumped dirt behind them—to spotlight the expansion and push job opportunities. The program’s speakers referenced the company’s hiring push numerous times.
Randy Sheppard, Boeing Commercial Airplanes senior director of human resources, was one of the senior executives who spoke during the event, which also featured speeches from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and state and local politicians.
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