Boeing 717, A Piece of Aviation History

There is a video as well, I was there, & got some photos:

Long Beach, April 20, 2006 - It is a bittersweet milestone in Long Beach, Boeing rolled out the last commercial plane made in California.

It is an emotional day for the Boeing employees at the Long Beach plant, as they watched the last 717 leave the assembly line this morning. This plane is the last commercial plane built in Southern California. The 717 is being sold to AirTran Airways, an airline based out of Orlando, Florida.
The Boeing 717 is made for short flights, holding only 100 passengers.

Hundreds of employees came out to Long Beach to watch the plane edge across Lakewood Boulevard and go into the Long Beach Airport, where it will depart for the its new home on the East Coast.


Employees say this is the end of an era here at Boeing. Many have worked at Boeing for all their lives. A number of employees followed their parents and grandparents who worked at Boeing. These employees say the company is like family and they are sad to see the last plane go.

The Long Beach Boeing plant opened in 1941 to help with the war effort. More than 15,000 airplanes have been produced at the plant since its opening.

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?secti ... 8&ft=print