By Jerry Bellune

JerryBellune@yahoo.com

Aerospace giant Boeing may move all 787 Dreamliner liner production to South Carolina. 

That may be good news for Lexington County residents who work for Boeing or its suppliers.

787 assembly is shared between Boeing's plants in North Charleston and Everett, Wash. 

This could reduce Boeing's manpower costs at its unionized Washington state plant.

That's particularly key now after Boeing has cut 10% of its workforce and slashed aircraft production rates. 

Industry experts told the Charleston Post and Courier a SC plant consolidation is the most likely outcome. 

Reuters new service Monday cited unnamed industry sources saying Boeing is "all but certain" to move all 787 production here.

It's not clear what the timeline would be for the move, the Post and Courier reported.

What is known is that Boeing will reduce monthly 787 production to just 6 a month in 2021.

That's less than half the peak rate of 14 that was being split between the 2 factories. 

CEO David Calhoun has said they're hopeful the 787 rate will reach double digits again.

That what would make calculations for consolidation difficult, Calhoun said.

Moving production to 1 site would mean trusting that site could eventually handle 10 jets a month on its own. 

Industry watchers say they are concerned about production quality in North Charleston.

Aerospace analyst Scott Hamilton said quality issues have made the case for keeping both factories open even if it costs more. 

Boeing South Carolina has “proved over and over again that it’s not up to the task of full responsibility,” he argued.

The FAA is looking into several manufacturing issues with the Dreamliner.

These include errors in aft-body sections that are built exclusively in North Charleston.