Boeing vows to modernize St. Louis aircraft production facilities

Boeing said it may spend as much as $250 million for new and expanded buildings at its St. Louis aircraft production facilities, the total investment dependent on the outcome of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) production contract. The company says that if it does win the JSF contract, it will build that aircraft's final assembly building there as well.

The first phase of the plan includes construction of a 210,000-sq-ft hangar and ramp facility adjacent to the recently expanded F/A-18E/F Super Hornet final-assembly complex. That will support flight-test operations for all Boeing St. Louis-built aircraft.

The company also will build a 140,000-sq-ft addition to its Building 101. C-17 subassembly work, along with T-45 and AV-8B production will be consolidated there. Construction is expected to begin later this year and completed by mid-2002.

For the next several years, Boeing says it will continue to assemble F-15s in the existing location (Building 2) under a lease-back arrangement with the airport authority but is reviewing alternatives for production of any future F-15 orders.

Phase II depends on whether or not Boeing wins the JSF production contract. If it does, the company says it will build new final assembly and office space that together would total about 550,000 sq ft. These facilities would be located southeast of the Boeing Military Aircraft and Missile Systems headquarters building, on property leased from the airport authority.

Boeing also said it will sell some 1.8 million sq ft of office and production space on 81 acres of land to the St. Louis Airport Authority, which operates the adjacent Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. That property includes Buildings 1, 2, 3, 42, and 45, which face the airport's runways.

Edited by David Robb
Managing Editor, AerospaceOnline.com