Vought Among Team to Receive Boeing Gold Eagle Award

DALLAS, JUNE 1, 2009 – Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc. announced today that it is among a team that received the Gold Eagle award from The Boeing Company. Boeing Global Mobility Systems issues the award annually to recognize excellence in the areas of leadership, customer service and execution.

The award was presented May 8 in Anaheim, Calif., to the C-17 Lead-time Reduction team –comprising representatives from the Boeing C-17 Program and Boeing suppliers including Vought – for continuous improvement accomplishments on the C-17 Program. The Lead-time Reduction team, chosen from a committee of peers, was one of 14 Silver Eagle award-winning Global Mobility Systems teams vying for the top honor. Vought employees and its industry teammates earned the award by reducing product lead time on the C-17 Globemaster III transport from 29 months to 20 months.

This is Vought’s first Gold Eagle award. Vought has received four Silver Eagle awards from Boeing since joining the C-17 team in 1983.

“The Gold Eagle is our top division award,” said Mark DeVoss, Boeing director of Supplier Management for the Global Mobility Systems division of Boeing’s Integrated Defense Systems business. “It recognizes excellence in process improvements and fosters an intense competition among Boeing project teams. In the end, the real winners are our customers, who reap the benefits of these improvements.”

Boeing’s C-17 Program established the annual Silver Eagle awards in 1989 as a formal internal program to recognize and honor noteworthy accomplishments associated with its continuous improvement and operational excellence initiatives. Gold Eagle awards are granted to Boeing and supplier work groups in recognition of outstanding team principles. Each team must demonstrate sustained accomplishments, starting with project selection and continuing through production results. Specific emphasis is placed on the methods and tools utilized by each team, as well as on the team’s ability to react to changes in systems or processes.

“What a tribute to our employees and their pursuit of flawless execution,” said Mark Blanton, Vought director of military programs. “The 16 Vought employees on this team worked diligently to achieve their time reduction goals, and deserve credit in making it a reality. We hope this will go a long way toward prolonging the program with the U.S. Air Force.”

About Vought

Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc. (www.voughtaircraft.com) is one of the world's largest independent suppliers of aerostructures. Headquartered in Dallas, the company designs and manufactures major airframe structures such as wings, fuselage subassemblies, empennages, nacelles and other components for prime manufacturers of aircraft. Vought has annual sales of approximately $1.8 billion and about 6,600 employees in nine U.S. locations.