Boeing going

If you worry, as I do, about the future of the aerospace industry and its high-paying in Washington State, you won’t want to miss an excellent roundup of recent developments by Dominic Gates in today’s Seattle Times.

Near the end of the long article, a quote from Leeham.net‘s Scott Hamilton pretty much erases any lingering uncertainty about the motivation for Boeing moving jobs out of the Evergreen State:

[Boeing CEO] Jim McNerney does not like Washington state. He doesn’t like unions. SPEEA [the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, which represents Boeing engineers and technical workers in Washington] could have got down on its knees and genuflected to Chicago, and they would still have moved jobs out.

Next question?

Update: Bev Wyse, the head of Boeing’s busy 737 plant in Renton, is quoted in the Seattle Times June 14 as follows: “Employment in Puget Sound is going to remain robust — very strong — over the next few years, as we continue to increase rate on the 737 as well as the 787.” Here’s a link to the article by Dominic Gates.