AIRCRAFT PARTS MAKER EXPANDING PLANT TO INCREASE OUTPUT.Byline: Charles Charles, archduke of Austria Charles, 1771–1847, archduke of Austria; brother of Holy Roman Emperor Francis II. Despite his epilepsy, he was the ablest Austrian commander in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars; however, he was handicapped by F. Bostwick Bostwick can refer to: People
Tracor Tracor was a major North American defence electronics contractor which was acquired by Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), a subsidiary of GEC plc, in 1998. Following the purchase of MES by British Aerospace in November 1999 to form BAE Systems, Tracor became BAE Systems Integrated Flight Systems is enlarging ENLARGING. Extending or making more comprehensive; as an enlarging statute, which is one extending the common law. its plant in Palmdale Palmdale, city (1990 pop. 68,842), Los Angeles co., S Calif., in the irrigated Antelope Valley; a growing residential suburb of Los Angeles near Little Rock Creek where it forms Lake Palmdale Reservoir, inc. 1962. to allow it to increase its output of Boeing 717 jetliner wings and lower fuselage sections to 10 sets every month. The plant at Avenue P and 30th Street East will be expanded by the end of the year from 35,000 square feet to 50,000, large enough to accommodate work on six sets of wings simultaneously, up from three right now. ``We have to ramp up Ramp Up To increase a company's operations in anticipation of increased demand. Notes: A company might 'ramp up' operations if they just signed a contract creating substantially more demand for their product. See also: Demand, Economies of Scale from (producing) one every two months to 2-1/2 every week,'' said company vice president Don Sullivan, who is in charge of the Palmdale plant. As a result of the expansion, the plant's work force is expected to grow from 52 employees now to 150 by 2001. A year ago, the company said it expected its Palmdale employment to reach 100 this year. Monthly output is expected to reach 10 sets of wings and lower fuselage sections by 2002, Sullivan said. The twin-engine, 100-seat 717 is Boeing's smallest airliner, and the only one of McDonnell Douglas' commercial production lines to survive the company's acquisition by Boeing. McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturer and defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft. It merged with Boeing in 1997 to form The Boeing Company. had designated the jet the MD-95, describing it as a 21st-century version of the venerable DC-9, able to meet more stringent noise and emission requirements and provide lower operating costs operating costs npl → gastos mpl operacionales for airlines. Boeing announced in November that it had an order for 50 717 airliners and an option for 50 more from Florida-based airline AirTran. In Palmdale, Tracor is assembling the wing halves and building Y-barrel assemblies. The Y-barrel assembly is the lower part of the fuselage and houses the main landing gear, as well as fuel, hydraulic and electrical lines. The wing halves are manufactured in Canada and shipped to Palmdale for joining. Eventually, the wing halves will be manufactured in South Korea, though they still will come to Palmdale for mating. The Palmdale plant is expected to produce 300 wing- and lower-fuselage assemblies by the year 2002, and its contract runs through 2117, Sullivan said. Tracor sends the joined wings and Y-barrel assemblies by truck to Long Beach, where the first three test airplanes are in the final stages of assembly. The first 717 test flight is scheduled for late summer. ``We've got a year of test flying and certification work before we can start delivering,'' Boeing spokesman Don Hanson said. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion