Mitsubishi proposes to build 777X wings in Japan

Reuters

Tokyo  

Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy has suggested a cost-saving way to build the wings of Boeing Co’s newest jet that could offer the planemaker a “Plan B” should its own workers reject a labour deal, a person with knowledge of the proposal said.

Details of the unsolicited proposal to make the wings in Japan emerged on the eve of a crucial vote by 31,000 Boeing workers on a contract that may determine whether the 777X is built in Washington state, its historic plane-building hub.

Boeing has said that if its machinists reject a proposed eight-year pact it will open talks on alternative locations for the assembly of the jet’s fuselage and composite wings - the longest ever designed for a US-manufactured airliner.

With Seattle-area workers given a first chance to vote on plans for a new jetliner, discussions between Boeing and other potential partners have not yet started and no concrete offer is on the table, several people close to the process said.

But Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which already makes wings for the 787 Dreamliner, has outlined to Boeing in detail how a new plant could be built alongside its existing 787 wing facility in the port city of Nagoya, the person told Reuters.

It has also presented a detailed blueprint that sets out significant cost savings by transforming the way in which the advanced carbon-composite wing panels are transported.

The person with knowledge of the plan said Mitsubishi has proposed building a fleet of five “Roll On-Roll Off” cargo ships capable of transporting sections of the 777X wing.

This would be cheaper than the outsized “Dreamlifter” planes used to transport 787 wing panels, the source said.

Compared with the cost and lead times needed for transport planes, the source said the new maritime freight network could be up and running relatively quickly. Boeing’s European rival Airbus also runs a shipping network for plane parts.

Further potential savings would come from the consolidation of some of the 787 and 777X wing work at adjacent sites.

“It is a detailed and carefully thought-through proposal that builds on the current 787 wing manufacturing system,” the person said.

Mitsubishi and Boeing both declined to comment.

Two sources in Tokyo with knowledge of Mitsubishi Heavy’s aerospace business said no concrete proposal had been made to Boeing and no discussion was underway on 777X building carbon-composite wings in Japan.

“It is a blank sheet,” said one of the sources on condition he wasn’t identified.

 Both, however, said Mitsubishi, which along with other Japanese suppliers builds 36% of the 787 and 21% of the 777, would be interested in the new jet’s wings.