Boeing broke ground today on a major expansion of its 787 Dreamliner campus in North Charleston, South Carolina, a strategic move to boost production capacity in response to sustained global demand for its widebody aircraft. The company confirmed the groundbreaking for a new, 1.2 million-square-foot final assembly building, mirroring the size of its existing facility, alongside new paint and parts preparation structures.
The $1 billion-plus infrastructure investment is central to Boeing’s plan to increase 787 production from the current five jets per month to ten by 2026. The expansion is expected to create more than 1,000 new Boeing jobs over the next five years and will utilize over 2,500 construction workers.
“We are making this significant investment today to ensure Boeing is ready to meet our customer’s needs in the years and decades ahead,” said Stephanie Pope, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. She cited the 787’s “market-leading efficiency and versatility” as a driver of strong demand, with a current backlog of nearly 1,000 airplanes. The Dreamliner remains the best-selling widebody passenger aircraft in history, with over 2,250 orders.
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster hailed the move as a “tremendous vote of confidence” in the state’s workforce and business climate, while U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham stated the expansion “is the ultimate vote of confidence for the South Carolina workforce.”
The Boeing South Carolina site, established in 2009, is currently home to the full production cycle for all three 787 models and employs more than 8,200 people. This expansion solidifies its role as a primary manufacturing hub for the flagship widebody program as Boeing anticipates a need for over 7,800 new widebody aircraft globally over the next 20 years.
