Boeing Appoints VP To Oversee 787 Parts Production

Vought Aircraft Industries reports a smaller third-quarter loss than a year ago, but Boeing has assigned a senior executive to expressly work with the company to get its 787 components manufacturing up to speed, and on time.

Boeing has appointed Scott Strode, a vice president formerly in charge of 787 production, to oversee all development activities with Vought "to strengthen management of the supply chain," according to an internal memo obtained by The Seattle Times.

Vought reported its Q3 financial results November 12. The company reported a loss of $2.1 million in the quarter, a big improvement over the $13.4 million it lost in the same period a year ago. Sales for the quarter were $422.3 million, 19 percent higher, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

For the first nine months of 2007 Vought reported a profit of $43.2 million on sales of $1.23 billion, compared to a loss of 30.4 million on sales of $1.133 billion in 2006.

Vought, a partially publicly-funded company, is owned by the Washington, DC-based Carlyle Group.

Strode’s oversight will give "special attention to 787 recovery and production ramp-up," the internal announcement said, though his oversight also extends to Vought's development work on the new jumbo-jet derivative, the 747-8, according to the Boeing memo.

The company manufactures the two rear fuselage sections of the 787 and, in a second adjacent plant, works with Italian aerospace company Alenia to integrate the two companies' 787 components.

Elmer Doty, Chief Executive of Vought said the company is seeing marked improvements in its quality, inventory costs and work-related injuries.

"We continue to focus on operational excellence," Doty said in a prepared statement, "and through a concentrated effort we are now seeing signs of improvement that appear sustainable across all of our major programs with only the H-60 program still needing significant attention."

Dallas, TX-based Vought manufactures aircraft components in plants in Dallas and Grand Prairie; Hawthorne, CA; Nashville, TN; Stuart, FL; Milledgeville, GA; and North Charleston, SC, where it builds fuselage sections for the new 787 Dreamliner.

Boeing spokesperson Yvonne Leach said other Boeing executives are fulfilling similar oversight roles with other 787 suppliers, including the Japanese and Italian partners. But those executives are not as high level as Strode.

FMI: www.vought.com/