By Matt Tomsic

North Charleston is a strong contender to produce and assembly the 787-10, which has a fuselage that may be too long to be ferried from the Lowcountry to Puget Sound.

“It makes sense to keep production and assembly of the 787-10 exclusively in Charleston,” said Saj Ahmad, an aerospace analyst, in an email. “You may argue that the price of this move may well be that the 787-9 is only exclusively built in Everett; however, both 787 production lines are designed to build any number of variants simultaneously, so it’s not out of the realm of possibilities that Charleston could end up making all three models of 787 before the decade is out.” [Read more...]

By Brendan Kearney and John McDermott,

Boeing’s top executives heaped praise on the North Charleston 787 complex during the company’s annual investor meeting held on Kiawah Wednesday morning, while broadcasting sharp challenges, including to its suppliers and main competitor, Airbus.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Ray Conner, shown in Tokyo earlier this year, was on Kiawah Island today to address analysts. He said the company’s 787 battery fix was the equivalent of “three years of work in three months.” (AP/Itsuo Inouye/File)

“We’re glad you could see it for yourself yesterday,” CEO Jim McNerney told the gathered analysts, referring to Tuesday’s tour of the local factories. “It’s a big deal. It took a long time, but we’re on the other side now.”