=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2004/04/15/f= inancial0001EDT0005.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, April 15, 2004 (AP) Boeing Co.'s Kansas plant to get more 7E7 work ROXANA HEGEMAN, Associated Press Writer (04-15) 21:01 PDT WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- Boeing Co.'s plant in Wichita, Kan., won additional work on the company's next generation commercial airliner, but not nearly as much as its employees had hoped. Boeing said Thursday its Wichita plant will build the engine pylons for the 7E7 Dreamliner, along with the aircraft's forward fuselage and flight deck. That work was awarded to the plant last year. "It confirms our expertise and our knowledge and our dedication to the program," said Fred Solis, spokesman for Boeing's Wichita plant. "It also reinforces the critical role we have with the 7E7 program." Despite the good news, the Kansas plant lost Thursday its bid to build t= he plane's nacelles, or engine coverings, to Goodrich Corp.'s aerostructures business in Chula Vista, Calif. Boeing workers had hoped built both since its Wichita plant already buil= ds those parts for most of Boeing's other commercial planes. Boeing manufactures parts for all but one of its commercial jetliners in Wichita, employing about 7,100 people on commercial aircraft projects. The company recently said it is looking for a buyer for its commercial aircraft and support operations in Wichita and Tulsa and McAlester, Okla. Such a sale is one of several scenarios under consideration as the company tries to focus more on design, sales and marketing. Solis said Boeing does not know yet how many jobs the work will mean. Boeing is already doing some of the preliminary 7E7 design work now and will begin building some parts in late 2005, with some assembly in 2006, Solis said. The company hopes to flight test the plane in 2007. The company already builds the nose sections of the 737, 747, 767 and 777 models in Wichita. What makes the 7E7 work different is that workers in Wichita will build not just the empty nose shell, but a "fully stuffed" section -- complete with air conditioning, electrical wiring and other components. The work it will be doing on the pylons in Wichita is similar to its 777. The 7E7 Dreamliner will be assembled in Washington state. It is designed to replace the company's older 757 and 767 jets. On the Net: Boeing Co.: www.boeing.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004 AP