100th 717 delivery celebrated in Long Beach

The men and women of Boeing's Long Beach Division in California — joined by airline customers, U.S. and international suppliers, Federal Aviation Administration representatives, and state and local officials — celebrated the delivery of the 100th 717 airliner during a festive planeside ceremony in mid-June.

"It's done everything we ever expected and more," said Joe Leonard, chairman and CEO of AirTran Airways, when taking delivery of the airplane. He told attendees that the 717 is the quietest and "greenest" airplane flying. "We've actually lowered our seat-mile cost since the events of Sept. 11," he said, adding that AirTran, thanks largely to the 717, is growing at a rate of 20 percent per year.

Citing better than 99 percent reliability, Leonard noted AirTran hopes to increase its 717 delivery rate from 12 to 20 next year.

AirTran, the 717 launch customer, now has 37 of the single-aisle jetliners in service in the United States. Other 717 operators include Hawaiian Airlines, Aerolineas Baleares, Olympic Aviation, QantasLink, Bangkok Airways and Turkmenistan Airlines. Midwest Express will begin flying 717s in early 2003 when the Long Beach Division deliv-ers the first of 25 firm orders to the Milwaukee, Wis.-based carrier.

IAM contract talks start

Formal negotiations between Boeing and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers opened June 25 in Wichita, Kan. During these negotiations, the IAM represents approximately 26,000 employees in the Puget Sound area, Portland, Ore., Spokane, Wash., and Wichita.

"We intend to reach an agreement that recognizes employees fairly and enhances the ability of Boeing to compete in the marketplace for the good of us all going forward," said Alan Mulally, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes at the June 25 event.

Jerry Calhoun, vice president of Human Resources for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, will lead the Boeing negotiating team.

On July 9 the IAM voted to grant its bargaining team the option of calling for a strike. This vote is procedure required by the union's constitution. The result of the vote is neither an indication of the status of talks so far nor a prediction of the outcome. Boeing will present the union its best-and-final offer Aug. 27, and IAM-represented employees in the areas noted above will vote on the offer Aug. 29. The current collective bargaining agreement with the IAM expires at midnight Sept. 1.

Separately, the Los Angeles Regional office of the National Labor Relations Board announced July 12 that the official tally of the valid ballots cast by Boeing engineers represented by the Southern California Professional Engineering Association favored decertification of the labor union.



Discount program on Web

The Boeing Employee Discount Web site has moved to a new home with a new address: www.boeingemployeediscount.com. The new home is also available via Boeing's external Web site at www.boeing.com; visitors can find the discount program by clicking on About Boeing, then Employee/Retiree Info.

The new site allows current and retired employees and their families to access discount information from work and home computers. Because the program now is accessible from outside the Boeing network, users are required to create an account with a user ID and password. Flyboeing is the code word you need to begin the process.

"Moving to the external Web site is an exciting step as we continue to build our discount program," said Cecilia Braeden, manager of the Boeing Employee Discount Program. "Employees now can check on discount offerings from anywhere, and retirees are gaining computer access for the first time since Boeing took over administration of discount operations in January."



ETHICS

The Office of Ethics & Business Conduct can be reached at 1-888-970-7171; Mail Code: 14-14; Fax:
1-888-970- 5330; TDD/TTY: 1-800-617-3384; e-mail: ethicsline.ethics@boeing.com; People with access to the Boeing internal network can find more information at:
http://www-co.boeing.com/ethics/Home.htm



IAM PROMOTIONS

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