Boeing to Shut Down C-17 Plant Three Months Sooner than Planned

Boeing Co. announced today that it will close its C-17 assembly plant in Long Beach about three months earlier than previously planned.

Boeing had anticipated closing the plant in late 2015, but has moved that date up to mid-2015.

Because of the change in plans, the company said it expected inventory- related charges of about $50 million, which will be recorded in the first quarter.

Boeing has already started laying off roughly 2,200 employees in California who worked on the four-engine cargo jet capable of delivering 60-ton tanks to war zones.

At the Long Beach plant, 223 of the planes were assembled.

--City News Service