Global Aeronautica would then assemble these sections and then ship the more than 60 percent complete fuselage to Everett onboard the Boeing Dreamlifter, a fleet of converted 747s.

The lawsuit was dropped in December after IAM withdrew its complaint as part of a new contract with Boeing, clearing the way for production to begin in South Carolina.

[4] The building also hosts 10 acres (440,000 sq ft; 40,000 m2) of solar panels on the roof that can generate up to 2.6 megawatts of electricity that is able to power the plant and giant autoclaves.

Limited production began in July 2011, with the first airplane rolling out of the final assembly on April 27, 2012, taking its first flight on May 23, and delivered to Air India on October 5.

[22] Undertaking drastic cost-cutting measures in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting impact on aviation, Boeing announced on October 1, 2020, that it would consolidate all of its 787 assembly at the South Carolina factory.

[25][26][27] In 2019, following the discovery of exterior damage on planes manufactured in Charleston, for a time Qatar Airways would only accept delivery of Dreamliners assembled in Everett.

"[28] Early in 2020, Boeing engineers discovered depressions in the 787's vertical tail fin, which could lead to structural failure under limited loads, affecting hundreds of planes or the vast majority of the fleet.

[31] In September 2020, Boeing admitted that the FAA was investigating quality-control lapses dating back to the introduction of the 787 in 2011 and considering requiring additional inspections for up to 900 of the roughly 1,000 Dreamliners in service.

[36][37] As of April 2022[update], Boeing has not submitted a plan to inspect and repair already constructed planes, indicating a further delay of weeks or months before the resumption of deliveries.

[41] Later calculations determined that the state-offered incentives package will be worth in excess of $900 million, when including property and sales tax breaks and state bonds.

The campus expanded in 2014 with the opening of the Boeing Research & Technology Center and Propulsion South Carolina which designs and assembles engine nacelle parts for the 737 MAX and the 777X.