Boeing workers in Washington hope the company will decide to build carbon-fiber composite wings for a bigger 777 in the state.

Mark Blondin of the International Association of Machinists union says a new wing plant would be a giant win for the state.  

The Seattle Times reports a manufacturing plan for the 777X is expected to go to the Boeing board by the end of the year. The plane would likely be assembled at the Everett plant where current 777s are put together. A new wing plant would add hundreds of jobs.  

The only sizable composite pieces built in Washington now are the 787 tail fin and the 777 tail, which are made at Boeing’s Frederickson plant near Tacoma.

James Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, will be the keynote speaker at Greater Spokane Incorporated's annual meeting Sept. 12.

Albaugh was president and CEO of Boeing Space and Communications from 1998 to 2002. In 2002 he became president and CEO of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, and in 2009 he took over Boeing Commercial.

“Boeing's recent announcement to build the new 737MAX in the Northwest gave our region's aerospace industry a huge lift,” said Rich Hadley, president and CEO of GSI.

“Mr. Albaugh will be able to share his view of the future of aerospace in our region,” Hadley continued. “Our local suppliers will hear from Boeing Commercial's top executive right here in Spokane.”

Today's major announcement has been the one by Boeing to base future production of the 737 MAX in Washington state. It will be in Renton, where Boeing already makes the 737. The new MAX is more fuel efficient.

Area officials believe Spokane can get a piece of the action. See our daily report here.

For a Twitter stream of web stories on the MAX decision, we decided to add it here.

SEATTLE — Boeing employment in Washington has exceeded 80,000 workers for the first time in nearly a dozen years, The Associated Press reports.

The company reports it had 80,666 workers in the state at the end of September. That’s the most since December 1999 when it had 80,900.

The News Tribune reports Boeing has added more than 7,000 employees to its Washington workforce since last December as it upped production of the 737 in Renton and pushed the 787 and 747-8 to delivery at the widebody factory in Everett.

Boeing’s all-time high employment in Washington was 104,000 in June 1998.

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Spokane Triumph Composite Systems Machinists have approved a new three-year contract that gives them job security in exchange for accepting no pay hikes.

Of 335 machinists at the West Plains manufacturing site, 81 percent of those voting approved the contract this week, union district president Tom Wroblewski said.

“The job security provision we got is unprecedented,” he said. He praised the contract as a strong commitment by Triumph to remaining in Spokane.

The contract guarantees members 40 hours of work for the next three years and protects workers from transfers to Mexico or any other current or future Triumph facility.

In exchange, Triumph got the union to accept a zero pay hike over the next three years. The current three-year contract provided increases of 4, 3 and 3 percent per year. Two prior Machinist contracts at Triumph offered some pay hikes, Wroblewski said.

The Spokane Triumph plant makes ducts and panels for major airplane manufacturers, including Boeing. It has about 450 workers.