NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Boeing workers are preparing to assemble the company's first 787 made in its new $750 million South Carolina plant.
The Post and Courier of Charleston reported (http://bit.ly/pNWt2T) Wednesday that the completed aft section of the plane body was wheeled into the assembly plant earlier this week.
While the aft sections for the plane were already made in North Charleston plant, they had been flown to Washington state for assembly.
Company spokeswoman Candy Eslinger said the aft section was the final piece workers needed before assembly on the plane could begin.
The company earlier this year dedicated the new assembly plant, the largest industrial investment in South Carolina history.
The plant is the target of a complaint brought by the National Labor Relations Board that alleges the plant was built in South Carolina to avoid unionized labor at the company's plant in Washington. Boeing denies and has challenged the allegation.
Eslinger said that the company this week also opened a welcome center at its plant near the Charleston International Airport. The building is where visitors get badges to enter the plant. It also has a security checkpoint as well as meeting rooms.
Three other Boeing buildings are set to open in the coming months.
A delivery center where airlines will receive their new 787s is set to open in November.
In December, another building in a nearby industrial park opens where the company will make bins, partitions and other components for the inside of the new airplanes.
The company is also building what is called The Hub, where workers can buy food and Boeing-themed gifts. Eslinger said the building will be finished next month.