Northwest Aerospace News — Issue 52 August | September 2026 | Page 32

but at a Tier 1 or 2 supplier. He hopes students who tour are inspired to pursue careers in STEM and aerospace at Boeing.“ We need really good people – the best asset Boeing has is its people. They are always looking for good people who care deeply about the work they do; it’ s wonderful to see how much they care; it makes me happy.”
BOEING EVERETT FACTORY TOURS INSPIRING GENERATIONS
Christopher Summitt has led thousands of well-rounded, engaging tours of the Boeing Factory each year. Summitt grew up in Everett and watched his father’ s career as a flight deck engineer at Boeing. As a narrative enthusiast, he enjoys sharing information and providing tours filled with facts about the facility, visual stories, and aerospace-related poems.
On the 80-minute Boeing Everett Factory Tour, Summitt queues up a busload of 52 tourists about three times per day. The Future of Flight consists of 25 public tour guides, depending on the time of year, with summer being the busiest. He said attributes of tour guides include,“ Being educated people who love language with the storyteller ' s art;( they) cast a spell on the audience.” Before setting out, all attendees store their valuables in the locker, take a bathroom break, and then board a bus.
Summitt said he starts the tour group with a 10-minute film before boarding a bus to the Everett factory, where they take an elevator up to the balcony to observe the assembly of the 777 and 777X. From there, they view the final assembly of the planes. He also enjoys the Sky Deck, especially late in the afternoon.
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