Boeing suspends 787 South Carolina operations

Boeing will temporarily suspend all 787 operations at Boeing South Carolina (BSC) until further notice, starting at the end of second shift on Wednesday, April 8, 2020. This impacts the Airport Campus, Emergent Operations, Interiors Responsibility Center South Carolina, and Propulsion South Carolina.

“It is our commitment to focus on the health and safety of our teammates while assessing the spread of the virus across the state, its impact on the reliability of our global supply chain, and that ripple effect on the 787 program,” said Brad Zaback, vice president and general manager of the 787 Program and BSC site leader. “We are working in alignment with state and local government officials and public health officials to take actions that best protect our people.”

BSC teammates who can work remotely will continue to do so. Those who cannot work remotely will receive paid leave for 10 working days of the suspension, which is double the company policy. After 10 days, teammates will have the option to use a combination of available paid time off benefits or file for emergency state unemployment benefits. All benefits will continue as normal during the suspension of operations, regardless of how teammates choose to record their time. Pay practice details have been made available to all teammates.

During work suspension on the 787 program, Boeing will continue to conduct enhanced cleaning activities at the site and monitor the global supply chain as the situation evolves.

When the suspension is lifted, the 787 program will take an orderly approach to restarting production with a focus on safety, quality, integrity, and meeting customer commitments.

South Carolina is one of eight states that hasn’t yet imposed a formal stay-at-home directive for its citizens.

Boeing officials announced April 5, 2020, the company is extending the temporary suspension of Washington state production operations at all Puget Sound area and Moses Lake sites until further notice. These actions are being taken as the company focuses on the health and safety of employees, current assessments of the spread of COVID-19 in Washington state, the reliability of the supply chain, and additional recommendations from government health authorities.

During the suspension, the company is implementing additional health and safety measures at its facilities to protect volunteers who have been supporting essential site and services work. These measures include new visual cues to encourage physical distancing, more frequent and thorough cleaning of work and common areas, and staggering shift times to reduce the flow of employees arriving and departing work. Boeing sites that remain open are being monitored and assessed daily.