Thursday, November 13, 2014

Boeing awards Chinese company AVIC contract to produce empennage tips for 777

Boeing has awarded a contract to AVIC to produce composite empennage tips of the 777 programme starting in 2017.

The news follows Boeing’s earlier agreement this year for China’s largest state-owned aviation company to manufacture vertical fins and horizontal stabilizer forward torque box panels.

The latest contract sees AVIC as the airframer’s sole supplier for empennage tips for the 777.

“We have steadily increased our sourcing from AVIC with good results. They have not only met our requirements for high quality and on-time delivery, but they have also worked closely with us to meet our airline customer’s demands for affordability,” says Kent Fisher, Boeing vice president and general manager for supplier management.

Shenyang Commercial Aircraft Company Ltd. (SACC), a subsidiary of AVIC will build the empennage tips for the 777 vertical fin and horizontal stabilizer at its two-year old facility.

In addition, Boeing and AVIC will further collaborate in establishing a manufacturing innovation centre within the SACC facility to increase the manufacturing and technological capabilities of SACC’s employees.

The empennage tips will not be SACC’s first products for Boeing. It started with cargo doors for the 757 in 1990 and today supplies the vertical fin leading edge and tip for the 787, as well as the entire 737 empennage via a separate contract with Spirit Aerosystems.

(Aaron Chong - FlightGlobal News)

No comments: