787 flight is triumph for Boeing workers
15-Dec-2009 The Boeing Company’s professional engineers, technical workers and machinists today had much to cheer about as the 787 Dreamliner lifted off from Paine Field at 10:27 a.m. on its first test flight.
These experienced workers get credit for conceiving, designing, engineering and manufacturing the world's first fully composite commercial aircraft, according to the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), IFPTE Local 2001.
"This represents a triumph of the skilled engineers, technical workers and machinists who work at Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems," said Ray Goforth, executive director of SPEEA. "Seeing the 787 take flight is a moment of great pride for everyone who played a part."
Long before the Boeing Board of Directors launched the program in 2003, SPEEA-represented engineers and technical employees were busy in company laboratories, design centers and on computers working on concepts that would become the next great leap in commercial aircraft. In recent months, they've been among the thousands of Boeing employees who put in long hours to ensure the 787 is ready for its maiden flight.
"Today's flight is a testament to the skill, hard work and diligence Boeing employees put in to get this airplane ready to fly," said Cynthia Cole, president of SPEEA. "Boeing returned to engineering, and that's what made today possible and successful."
With first flight complete, the technical workforce can turn its attention to ensuring the 787 becomes the most successful commercial aircraft ever built by Boeing.
A local of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), SPEEA represents more than 24,400 aerospace professionals at Boeing, Spirit AeroSystems in Kansas, Triumph Composite Systems, Inc., in Spokane, Wash., and at BAE Systems, Inc., in Irving, Texas.