Obama lauds 787, US civil aircraft sales at Boeing plant

787. Courtesy, Boeing

US President Barack Obama spoke Friday to workers at Boeing's Everett, Wash., manufacturing plant, touting rising commercial aircraft sales (ATW Daily News, Dec. 15, 2011) as a sign that US manufacturing is on the rebound.

"It's hard not to be amazed by the Dreamliner," Obama said, noting that the 787 is "lighter, it's faster, it's more fuel-efficient than any airplane in its class. And it looks cool. The Dreamliner is the plane of the future. And by building it here, Boeing is taking advantage of a huge opportunity that exists right now to bring more jobs and manufacturing back to the United States."

The president said that Boeing's business "is booming [ATW Daily News, Jan. 26]. Booming ... Now the biggest challenge is how to turn out planes fast enough ... That’s a high-class problem to have."

He continued, "Every Dreamliner that rolls off the assembly line here in Everett supports thousands of jobs in different industries all across the country. Parts of the fuselage are manufactured in South Carolina and Kansas. Wing edges, they come from Oklahoma. Engines [are] assembled in Ohio. The tail fin comes from right down the road in Frederickson [Wash.]." 

Obama commented that "companies like Boeing are finding out that even when we can't make things faster or cheaper than China, we can make them better. Our quality can be higher ... That's how we're going to compete."