Cites Company Resources Beyond The Puget Sound Region

Against a backdrop of negotiations with its engineers' union, Boeing chief engineer Mike Delaney says that the company has resources nationwide, and may look beyond the Puget Sound region for development work on new airliners. He cites costs as the primary driver.

Delaney told Bloomberg News that the Seattle area is a "love-hate relationship for me." He said the area is as expensive as California and Washington, D.C. in terms of engineering costs. He said that while the Chicago-based firm is "committed to the Puget Sound," he has to consider Boeing assets in other areas of the country.

The negotiations come as Boeing is ramping up production to record levels after huge orders were placed on the books over the last year. Engineers represented by SPEEA, as the union in known, average $110,000, while technical workers earn an average of $79,000. Much of the disagreement in the contract talks seems to stem from a proposal to place new engineers into a retirement plan resembling a 401(k) rather than a traditional pension.

Delaney told Bloomberg that he has been up front with SPEEA ... the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace ... that while Boeing loves the Puget Sound and St. Louis areas, when they get ready to launch a new airplane, they will use whatever resources they think are necessary to make that happen.

SPEEA says that most of the issues that arose during the development of the Dreamliner were caused by engineers not working alongside the people actually building the planes. SPEEA executive director Ray Goforth said Boeing is resurrecting a "failed" model to force workers into making pay and retirement concessions.

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.speea.org