Boeing weighs whether to close Pa. plant as helicopter factories face military funding cuts

Boeing is weighing whether to close its Ridley Township, Pennsylvania plant, a decision that could ripple through the region’s helicopter workforce as U.S. military funding for helicopters tightens. The Philadelphia-area operation, which employs about 3,000 people, has produced and upgraded Boeing’s Chinook CH-47 heavy-lift helicopters for 60 years. Leonardo’s nearly 1,000-worker Northeast Philadelphia plant also depends on Air Force support for its Grey Wolf medium-lift helicopter. Boeing says it invested $400 million starting in 2016 to upgrade its Delaware River/I-95 factory buildings, partly relying on a promise of Chinook work through the mid-21st century.