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Spirit AeroSystems celebrated the rollout of its 1,000th Boeing 777 forward fuselage section today, a milestone for the program.
The celebration, held on the shop floor, was attended by Spirit managers and employees and by its customer, Boeing.
“This airplane helps the world come together,” Jeff Turner, Spirit CEO, said during the celebration.
Introduced 16 years ago, the 777 has reached the 1,000 airplane mark faster than any other twin-aisle jet, officials said. The 1,000th forward fuselage, built in five major sections in Wichita, is scheduled to leave Spirit by rail today for Boeing’s Everett, Wash., plant.
Boeing has taken 194 orders for the airplane just this year. It has increased production levels to 8.3 per month for another year in response to the demand.
“We’ve got grandkids that will help us build the last of these,” Turner said.
The plane’s acceptance in the market is good for Spirit. The 777 and the popular 737 help Spirit pay for the development of new airplane programs, Turner said.
“This is one of the absolute heartbeats of our business,” Turner said.
It’s also been good for Boeing.
“Our airline customers vote on the popularity of our products every day,” said Jason Clark, Boeing 777 director of operations. “They vote with order after order.”
The 777 was the first aircraft to be digitally designed using the CATIA system, said Bill Parmelee, Spirit’s director of operations for skin fabrication. The processes allow the parts to come together without massive tooling, Parmelee said. It allows assemblies to fit together like Legos, he said.
