Pitching Recently-Established Airport Industrial Area For New Midsized Airplane Plant

Spokane, WA city officials hope that the recently-established West Plains Airport Public Development Authority (PDA) can convince Boeing to build its New Midsize Airplane in the region.

A concept for the NMA was announced by Boeing earlier this year at the Paris Air Show. The company said it could be configured with 220-270 seats and have a range of just under 5,000 nautical miles. It could possibly be called the 797, and would not be ready for service until 2025 at the earliest. The company is expected to formally announce the airplane sometime in 2018.

The Inlander newspaper reports that Larry Krauter, CEO of Spokane International Airport and Chairman of the PDA board, said that such a project is exactly why the PDA was established. He said that building the NMA near Spokane would lead to the creation of hundreds of jobs at the very least, and have a multiplier effect through the supply chain and the opportunity to attract additional business.

But there is no guarantee that the plane will be built in Washington State, let alone in Spokane. Boeing has a large presence in South Carolina, where some Dreamliners are manufactured, and the NMA would probably share at least some elements with the 787.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original Report