Boeing awards AVIC contract for 777 empennage tips

Boeing has awarded a contract to Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), China’s largest state-owned aviation company, to produce composite empennage tips for the 777 beginning in 2017. The new agreement was reached through close collaboration between Boeing, AVIC Shenyang Commercial Aircraft Corporation (SACC) and AVIC International. It builds on the contract Boeing signed with AVIC earlier this year to produce vertical fin and horizontal stabilizer forward torque box panels. Under the contract, workers at SACC will build tips for the 777 vertical fin and horizontal stabilizer at its new facility near the airport in Shenyang, China. Boeing qualified SACC for composite work in July of this year following a comprehensive audit of equipment, workforce and processes. The two companies will also work together in establishing a Manufacturing Innovation Center (MIC) within the SACC facility to enhance the manufacturing and technological capabilities of SACC employees. Boeing and AVIC pioneered the MIC concept in 2012, establishing the first center in Beijing to provide classroom training for AVIC employees on Boeing’s successful production methods.