Boeing Takes Flight From Seattle

S E A T T L E, March 22 -- Boeing Co. stunned its hometown byannouncing it is moving its headquarters out of Seattle, where theaircraft manufacturing giant was founded 85 years ago.

Chairman and Chief Executive Phil Condit said Wednesday Boeing isconsidering Chicago, Denver and Dallas-Fort Worth. It hopes tochoose the site by early summer and have it running by fall.

Condit said the move is intended to save money and give theworld’s No. 1 maker of passenger jets a headquarters central to itsoperations, now spread over 26 states.

Hundreds of Layoffs, But No Plant Closures

The company’s huge jet manufacturing plants will remain in theSeattle area, as will much of its research and development work.

Condit said less than half the 1,000 employees working at itsSeattle corporate center will be moved to the new headquarters. Theothers will be transferred to other departments or may be laid off,he said.

The announcement shocked community and labor leaders.

While the move might not have a major economic impact onSeattle, Mayor Paul Schell and Gov. Gary Locke publicly pleadedwith Boeing to reconsider.

“I will do all I can to help them change their minds,” Schellsaid.

“I am surprised and deeply sorry to see any part of the BoeingCo. leave Washington state,” Locke said. “While the bulk of theBoeing family remains with us, to lose the corporate leadership ofthis company leaves a void in our economic and cultural life.”

Washington State’s Top Private Employer

Boeing is Washington state’s biggest private employer, with78,400 people in the Seattle area alone. Worldwide, it has 198,900workers, with operations in St. Louis, Southern California andRidley Park, Pa.

It was founded in 1916 by timber scion William Boeing, whoinitially built wooden seaplanes.

The company defined Seattle and its culture for much of the 20thcentury. Its plants built the bombers that helped win World War II;its designers invented the jetliners that revolutionized globaltravel; its international prestige gave the city its claim as a hubof the Pacific economy.