Everett biz booming, thanks to Boeing's deal with Air Dubai | Business

The first aircraft with Boeing's Sky Interior took off from Seattle on Wednesday, signaling an upturn for another Everett company.

The new 737-800 goes to Flydubai. It's the first of more than 40 such planes that the airline has purchased.

The redesigned interior offers larger cargo bins and more head room for passengers. The interior's overhead lighting cycles through a full color spectrum, from simulating blue skies to the orange hues of sunlight and sunset.

"What we have right now is we have low fare and on-time and friendly service and we want to continue that, but we also want the customers to come on and enjoy being on the airplane," said Ken Gile of Air Dubai.

And Boeing's new aircraft is creating new jobs at Everett-based ATS.

The new Flydubai plane landed Wednesday afternoon at ATS for additional equipment. The company says it needs to hire hundreds of workers to handle all the extra business it's getting right now.

Workers at ATS do it all, from modifying interiors to heavy airframe maintenance.

"You know, we're seeing a bit of an up-tick in the maintenance world," said company spokesman Phil Fields. "And of course, modification - you know, this is a new program. This is entertainment for the folks that are flying these aircraft."

Passengers want comfort and entertainment on board, sparking Flydubai to order the new sky interior and then add a complete in-flight entertainment system.

"They'll see one of the most modern interiors on a narrow body aircraft," said Mick Hills of Air Dubai. "I think that will send the message that Flydubai are cutting edge."

"And they get a good experience when they first get on, because the snap appeal is great in this airplane," Giles said.

Boeing's production line is not yet set up for adding extra creature comforts like seat-back flat screens; however, ATS is. The company is fitting every seat in the aircraft with a new entertainment system made by Lumexis.

"This is what they call a prototype installation. This is the first time this company is installing their product in a commercial carrier - Flydubai," Fields said.

ATS needs to hire more workers to fulfill its five-year contract and get every one of Flydubai's 44 new aircraft readied for passengers to sit back and relax.

"So we're actually out hunting people. We're looking for some 200 people between now and the first of the year at our facility," Fields said.

Dozens of workers are needed to perform the seat-back entertainment modifications, but ATS is also hiring at other skill levels. Fields said the company offers on-site training since most of their jobs are very task-specific.