US aerospace and defence giant Boeing announced on April 16 that it was going to phase in a return to production at its commercial aircraft facilities in the Puget Sound region of Washington state in the north-west of the continental US. The region includes the city of Seattle. 

This decision followed a few days after the group restarted its defence production activities in the same region. Both defence and commercial production in the region had been suspended to help counter the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The health and safety of our employees, their families and communities is our shared priority,” stressed Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO, and senior executive Pacific Northwest Stan Deal. “This phased approach ensures we have a reliable supply base, our personal protective equipment (PPE)  is readily available and we have all of the necessary safety measures in place to resume essential work for our customers.”

Production of the Boeing 747, 767 and 777 aircraft should restart with the third shift on April 20, with most workers reporting to work on April 21. The Boeing 737 programme, focused on restarting production of the currently grounded 737 MAX version, would resume at the same time. Production of the Boeing 787 would resume with the third shift on April 23, with the majority of the workforce returning on April 24.

Those workers who had been working from home would continue to work from home. Meetings would continue to be conducted virtually. Operations at Boeing’s South Carolina facilities would remain suspended for now.

The company had instituted extra precautions and comprehensive procedures at all its facilities, to ensure the safety of its employees and to counter Covid-19. These measures included transport and common areas being modified to allow for physical distancing; the use of floor markings, signs and other visual controls to establish physical distancing; and the setting up of hand washing stations in areas of high traffic, plus the provision of additional cleaning supplies.

Further measures being taken were the staggering of shift start times to minimise the flows of workers coming to and leaving work; requiring workers to wear face coverings or masks (preferably their own – any workers without face coverings or masks would be provided with them); and supplying PPE to workers employed in areas where sustained physical distancing was not possible. In addition, personnel would be asked to conduct self-health checks before starting work and to remain home if they were ill; undergo voluntary temperature screening; and have their health checked at the start of every shift. If a worker tested positive for Covid-19, contact tracing would be carried out, to reduce the risk to colleagues.