Lowcountry Dreamliner ready to roll

Posted: Apr 23, 2012 6:29 PM EDT
Updated: Apr 23, 2012 6:56 PM EDT

By Eric Egan
abcnews4.com

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC (WCIV) -- Nearly three years after breaking ground in the Lowcountry, Boeing will show off its very first, locally made Dreamliner this Friday.

There are four 787 Dreamliners inside the final assembly plant in North Charleston. One of them is finished and ready for the public to see, in what will be a day to remember for all of South Carolina.

It's a Carolina creation.

"It's a statement that the airplane is compete, all the work that was supposed to be done inside the factory is now complete," said Boeing South Carolina Vice President, Jack Jones. "It will roll out and you will see it in its completed state."

Other Dreamliners have been on display locally in the past. The plane, to be revealed later this week shares the same top of the line features.

According to Jones, the plane's composite material make-up allows for superior fuel efficiency.

The cabin experience, with bigger windows and spacious seating, was designed specifically so the traveler can enjoy the ride.

"The interior cabin has several passenger comfort features that you don't feel today in other aircrafts," he said.

Boeing did not arrive at this point without its share of bumpy air. It included a complaint by the National Labor Relations Board, which questioned the company's motive for coming to South Carolina. Though Jones says his biggest concern was getting the workforce trained.

"If we did get in trouble, if we did have a problem, we had the support of the program in Seattle quickly putting people in airplanes, boots on the ground down here to make sure we keep production going," said Jones.

That focus, says Jones, kept North Charleston on track.

"All the while we knew exactly how we were doing against those scheduled events and as long as we were making those events, making that schedule, the confidence of the company was there," Jones said.

Air India is in line to buy North Charleston's first Dreamliner.

Boeing's next goal is to finish more than three planes at the plant every month, lofty but worthy expectations. The company has already sold 850 Dreamliners.

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