Boeing

With a huge hangar full of aircraft, the Boeing Aerospace Support Center in San Antonio celebrated its first year of operations.

Today at a ceremony at the Boeing center at Kelly Air Force Base, employees and dignitaries celebrated an enormously successful year that began with work on a single aircraft, and now features more than 25 in work. To support this impressive growth, Boeing has hired approximately 1,600 employees, more than 90 percent of whom were hired from the San Antonio area.

"Last year we marked the arrival of the first aircraft at this new Boeing maintenance and modification center," Mark Owen, vice president and general manager of Maintenance and Modification Centers for Aerospace Support, told employees and dignitaries, including Sen. Phil Gramm, in attendance. "Today, there are about 25 large aircraft in work here at any given time - KC-10s, KC-135s, C-17s and commercial cargo conversions. The reality is, we went from one airplane to virtually full capacity in less than one year.

"We are building a strong team here - one that is committed to low cost, rapid turnaround and preeminent quality," added Owen. "We knew from the start that we have to deliver on our commitments because of a simple yet vital truth: Our customers will decide our future. I'm proud of our achievements of the past year in securing a very successful, long-term future for this center."

The Boeing Aerospace Support Center is one of four maintenance and modification centers operated by the Aerospace Support business, part of the Boeing Military Aircraft and Missile Systems Group. Other facilities are in Wichita, Kan.; Shreveport, La.; and at Williams Gateway Airport in Mesa, Ariz.

These centers are major elements in the overall Aerospace Support focus. Combined with its logistics support services and systems competencies, Boeing is the only major airframe manufacturer with an integrated organization structured to provide total life-cycle customer support.

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