MASCOUTAH, Ill. (AP) -- Chicago-based Boeing Co. says it plans to open a manufacturing facility at a long-struggling airport in southwestern Illinois.
In a news release Thursday, Boeing says it will lease space at MidAmerica Airport for assembly work and that the facility will initially employ 75 people. Officials at a ceremony at the airport suggested there would be more.
This will be Boeing's first manufacturing facility in Illinois. The company has 16,000 employees in nearby St. Louis.
The airport near Mascoutah (muh-SKOO'-tuh) has struggled to attract and keep businesses and air carriers. It also has never turned a profit.
The airport has focused on cargo traffic since losing its last passenger flights in 2008.
