Local ‘Mcboeing’ Workers Wondering At Whose Expense Merger Savings Come

Airway Heights workers already call the new company “McBoeing.”

Now they want to know who deserves a break in the $13.3 billion Boeing Co.-McDonnell Douglas Corp. deal: the 520 people who build fiberglass components at Boeing’s Spokane factory or subcontractors who do similar work for McDonnell Douglas?

Boeing executives are promising shareholders $1 billion in savings from the merger, scheduled to begin in mid-1997, but not saying how that will be accomplished.

A task force is being assembled to design the best way to combine the two manufacturing giants, which will employ 200,000 people in 27 states.

The recent acceleration of new orders for Boeing’s multimillion-dollar airplanes should mean ample demand for the air ducts, floor panels and cockpit components that the massive Airway Heights factory produces.

But McDonnell-Douglas believes it is cheaper to farm out production of those components to independent suppliers located in other states. Company officials said that all of the McDonnell Douglas fiberglass components are made by outside contractors.

“We’ve got some concerns about the future of this little factory in a wheat field in Spokane,” Boeing technician Russell Dionne said during his lunch break Monday. “The deal could mean more business for us, but McDonnell-Douglass is famous for subcontracting out their components.”

Spokane officials referred questions to Boeing’s public relations offices in Seattle.

Barbara Murphy, spokeswoman for the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, said it was too early to know how the Spokane factory might be affected.

“We’ll be looking at the best approach for both companies and deciding what’s best for the future,” she said. “Our greatest strength is the people of both companies and there’s a hope to minimize the need for layoffs and relocations.”

Herminio Perez, an environmental control worker who drives a forklift at the Airway Heights plant, said the deal surprised many workers who were told three weeks ago that rumors of a Boeing-McDonnell Douglas merger were unfounded.

While many worry about their jobs, Perez said those who hold stock or 401-K investments in Boeing are pleased about the prospects for future financial growth.

“Most people are optimistic and happy,” he said. “Everybody’s calling it McBoeing. It’s catchy.”

, DataTimes