Boeing broke ground on November 7, 2025, on an expansion of its Boeing South Carolina (BSC) campus near Charleston International Airport, home of the 787 Dreamliner program. The company announced plans for the expansion in late 2024 and has committed more than $1 billion to the infrastructure program. The project is expected to create more than 1,000 new jobs over the next five years at a facility that currently employs more than 8,200 people across campuses in North Charleston and Orangeburg.
What it means
The expansion adds a new final assembly building roughly equal in size to the existing one — approximately 1.2 million square feet — along with airplane production positions, production support, and office space. Additional construction at the Airport Campus includes a parts preparation area facility, a vertical fin paint facility, and Flight Line stalls. Additions are also being made to the Interiors Responsibility Center, where many 787 interior components are produced. Boeing said the expanded facility is intended to support a production rate of 10 787 airplanes per month in 2026. The construction effort is being carried out by a joint venture of HITT Contracting and BE&K Building Group, with BRPH as architect of record; the joint venture is projected to employ more than 2,500 people and log over 6.2 million construction hours.
The 787 backlog stands at nearly 1,000 airplanes, with more than 300 orders added in the current year alone. Ninety customers from around the world have placed more than 2,250 total orders for the 787-8, 787-9, and 787-10 variants, and more than 1,200 deliveries have been completed. Boeing’s Commercial Market Outlook projects a need for more than 7,800 new widebody airplanes over the next two decades, a figure Boeing cited in connection with the expansion. Boeing established operations in South Carolina in 2009.
Key facts
- Investment: more than $1 billion in the BSC infrastructure program (according to the company; also cited by Governor Henry McMaster)
- New jobs: more than 1,000 over the next five years (according to the company; also cited by Governor McMaster, Senator Lindsey Graham, and Congressman Jim Clyburn)
- Target production rate: 10 787 airplanes per month in 2026
- New final assembly building: roughly 1.2 million square feet, matching the current building
- Construction workforce: more than 2,500 people; over 6.2 million projected labor hours
- Construction joint venture: HITT Contracting and BE&K Building Group; architect of record: BRPH
- Current BSC workforce: more than 8,200 employees in North Charleston and Orangeburg
- 787 backlog: nearly 1,000 airplanes; more than 300 orders added in 2025
- Total 787 orders: more than 2,250 from 90 customers; more than 1,200 deliveries completed
- Groundbreaking date: November 7, 2025; expansion plans announced late 2024
Source: Boeing Company news release (PRNewswire)