Has Washington Finally Driven Boeing Out Of The State?

Has Washington Finally Driven Boeing Out Of The State?

Somehow the whole idea of Washington without Boeing is almost unimaginable. Boeing is a Washington institution. Boeing is as integral a part of Washington as is the Grand Coulee Dam or the Space Needle. But now Washington finds itself confronting the very real possibility that Boeing will be easing itself out of the state completely. Boeing will soon begin the manufacture of its latest model, the 7E7. And shockingly, it is considered probable that the plane will be assembled in a state other than Washington. If that happens, it's likely that at some point in the future, all aircraft manufacturing will leave the state.
Why would Boeing want to do that? Washington already has a skilled, experienced workforce in place. Were Boeing to move its manufacturing elsewhere, it would have to train new employees. Boeing already has extensive physical facilities in Washington. Assembling planes elsewhere would require a massive construction project. So why is Washington considered such a long shot to win the new 7E7?
It's no secret that Washington has exhausted Boeing Chairman Phil Condit's patience. Two years ago, Boeing moved its corporate offices to Chicago. That should have been a clue, but sometimes it's not all that easy to get a donkey's attention. So before leaving, Condit sat down for a palaver with governor Gary Locke and ticked off the issues he had with the state. His complaints ranged from a tyrannical regulatory climate, to oppressive labor laws, to a predatory anti-business and anti-institutional culture.
Indeed, this problem predates the present governor. Several years ago, Boeing threatened to leave after its building permits were stalled in the Department of Ecology's bureaucratic never-never land. It was only after Boeing threatened to move manufacturing to Kansas that then governor Mike Lowry grudgingly consented to call his environmental apparatchiks to heel. Recently the construction of a third runway at Sea-Tac Airport, a project very much desired by Boeing, has been mired for roughly a decade in similar environmental thumb twiddling.
As for the labor climate, of the ten states openly courting Boeing, seven are right to work states. Washington's Democratic Party knows very well that it would be nowhere without its union constituency. And politicians are infinitely more interested in their reelection climate than in the state's business climate.
And finally, there is the west side's cultural hostility toward tradition. Bedrock institutions, whether they be the military or Boeing, are held in contempt. This hostility manifests itself by the politicians that West-siders elect to office. Could Jim McDermott be elected to Congress if the voters did not believe that Saddam Hussein was more deserving of trust than George Bush? Could the venomously anti-military Seattle City Council have been elected in a city populated by people who honored a soldier's sacrifice? The Wahhabiism of the west side's cultural elite does more to nurture rock-throwing anti-WTO protestors and environmental terrorism than it does to nurture business.
During his interview with Locke, Condit reportedly cited a Seattle Times smear piece on Seattle's Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center as evidence of the state's attitude. Had the conversation occurred later, Condit could have included KIRO television's terribly dishonest attack upon the Washington beef industry. Washingtonians seem addicted to biting the hands that feed them. It's too bad that Seattleistas have so poisoned Phil Condit's view of the entire state. Boeing would find a more appreciative population on this side of the Cascades.
What does it take to get a liberal's attention? As Joan Colllins once phrased it, "you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone." Two years after Boeing moved its corporate headquarters out of Washington, the state has done precious little to create a more nurturing environment for business. It's very easy to take for granted those things that have always been. Boeing has been a part of the fabric of Washington since Bill Boeing founded the company in 1916. Since then, Washington's liberal politicians have treated Boeing as a powerless vassal from which it could extract tribute and upon which they could impose dictates.
And now, they've dealt what is likely a mortal blow to a huge sector of Washington's economy. Oh sure, 747's, 757's and 767's will be built here until they are obsolete. But someday they will be obsolete. And their successors will be built where business is appreciated.