Boeing Moving Commercial Plane Modification Work to Long Beach From Seattle

The company modifies old commercial jets into freighters, and will shift 375 jobs to Boeing's underutilized "Fly DC Jets" plant right next to my college.

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It is a surprising announcement from Boeing, which has 1,200 commercial engineers in Long Beach, Seal Beach and Huntington Beach. The company's commercial work in Southern California has dwindled over the years.

The Long Beach plant was built by Douglas Aircraft Co. and still has a large "Fly DC Jets" sign in front. It thrived for decades, employing thousands and producing some of the world's most popular airliners, including the DC-3, DC-8 and MD-80.

Boeing stopped producing commercial aircraft there in 2006, when the last 717 rolled off the line. It was a plane that Boeing inherited when it acquired McDonnell Douglas Corp. in 1997, but the 717, originally called the MD-95, never caught on with major airlines.

With Thursday's announcement, Long Beach will be home of engineering support for many of its airplanes and for modifying its older planes to freighter aircraft.