Largest Building in the World
- Paul Hallman
- May 12
- 5 min read
We arrived in Seattle at 7:00 a.m. to sunny skies—the kind of morning that makes you feel like the day is already going your way. It was a last minute decision to book an excursion for Seattle but friends on board told us about their experience at Boeing and we didn't hesitate to book it, so we got tickets online and decided that we could take an Uber to the Boeing Site.
We didn’t waste any time getting started, because we had one big plan we were really looking forward to: a trip up to the Boeing Future of Flight / factory tour in Everett, Washington. To make it easy (and a little special), we hired a limo to take us there, wait while we toured, and bring us back afterward. It turned the whole outing into a smooth, no-stress experience—no driving, no parking, no watching the clock. One tickets was $37 and the Limo there and back, was $60 per person. Total cost was $97 per person and the ship wanted $199 each. We were treated like kings by the Limo driver and were ahead of the ship excursion so no waiting time. It was a 45 minute drive from our ship to Boeing.
When we arrived at the welcome center we checked in and waited for our timed tour. It was scheduled to be about 80 minutes and you could feel the anticipation in the room. Before heading to the factory we watched an intro video that gave an overview of the site and what Boeing does there—helpful context before seeing the real thing.
After the video, we boarded a brand new bus that took us to the factory. There were 43 people on our tour. Even with a full group, everything felt organized and controlled—very “Boeing.”
Once we got inside, we headed down a set of stairs into a basement utility tunnel that seemed to run forever. We walked through the tunnel to an elevator and then all 43 of us packed in and rode up about 80 feet to a viewing platform overlooking the 777 and 787 manufacturing areas. These two areas were different because the size of the planes varied and setting up the space to move them was integral in making the process efficient.
That first look was the moment it really hit: the tour was unbelievable. There are 30,000 employees at this site and they shift work 24 hours per day with 3 shifts per day. They have a complete traffic program to allow all the cars to get in and out of the site at the end of the shifts. There is parking close to the factory but in order to park there you need to have worked for Boeing for over 25 years. All others are shuttled to their worksite from the various parking lots.
In addition the manufacturing site there has an airport on the property that is owned and operated by the city of Everett however Boeing uses it for flights and testing when needed.
The Everett facility is often described as the world’s largest building by volume—about 472 million cubic feet—with a footprint of 98.3 acres (roughly 4.3 million square feet). It’s so massive it can hold about 75 NFL football fields under one roof. The guide also shared some of the “only-here” details: around 1 million lights, and stories about how the building has even been known to create its own indoor weather.
They told us it takes about two years to build an airplane mostly driven by the delivery of components from their vendors. Boeing brings the items into their site by every possible form of transportation - air, truck, rail and sea. They actually built their own airplane to fly in certain parts. Pretty ingenius idea but it makes sense.
And then there are the scale facts that sound impossible until you picture them: it’s said to be physically possible to fit the engine nacelle/cowling from a Boeing 737 inside the engine housing of a Boeing 777—and the 777’s engines are so huge their fan diameter is roughly as wide as the entire fuselage of a 737. The largest Boeing engine is the GE9X, developed by GE Aerospace exclusively for the Boeing 777X family. It is currently the world’s largest and most powerful commercial aircraft engine, featuring a massive 134-inch fan diameter and a total engine diameter of 161 inches, making it wider than a Boeing 737 fuselage.
Some interesting data about the Boeing 737. It is such a popular airplane that they say a 737 either lands or takes off every 3 seconds worldwide. They are now setting up a new production line for 737 planes as it is increasingly becoming more popular.
From the viewing platform, our guide walked us through how the planes are built in stages. One thing that surprised us: this factory is primarily an assembly site. Many major components are made by contractors and shipped to Boeing, where everything comes together.
They explained how the front and rear sections are built using a modular concept, and how those huge sections can be moved around by Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs). Once the front and rear are assembled, they’re moved to the rear of the line and then shifted horizontally across the facility. That’s where an overhead crane lowers the center section with the wings into place—essentially bringing the aircraft together into one complete structure.
From there, the plane moves forward and gets the landing gear and the internal “guts”—seats, electrical systems, instruments, and more. They even simulate the weight of the engines as part of completing the build before the real engines go on.
After that stage, the aircraft is taken out of the manufacturing center and towed to the paint shop, where it takes 2 days and 12 staff to paint a plane. Then the engines are added, and testing begins—done by Boeing technical staff and flight engineers, with the customer involved in final testing as well.
When the factory viewing portion ended, we returned to the welcome center and toured the Future of Flight showroom, which was a great way to wrap up everything we’d just seen. We were also able to go up to the rooftop to take photos of the site.
The showroom had futuristic drone like airplanes, examples of Space Laboratories, Futuristic Cabin designs as well as simulation area where you could fly an airplane. It was very well done and extremely large.
When we finished the tour guess where we ended - in their Gift Shop ! Can you imagine that ?
One important note: before the factory tour, we had to lock our phones and cameras in lockers—no photography allowed during the tour itself. I did my best to download photos from the internet to represent what we saw in the tour.
After all of that, our limo driver picked us up and brought us back to Pike Place Market. We walked the market, bought flowers for our room, and then had clam chowder—the best in Seattle, as far as we’re concerned. After lunch we headed to the Gum Wall, then stopped for a brew or two at the Alibi Bar.
The Gum Wall in Seattle is a famous, albeit sticky, landmark in Post Alley beneath Pike Place Market, featuring over 250,000 pieces of chewing gum covering brick walls. Originating in the early 1990s as patrons waited for [Unexpected Productions] theater shows, this "gross-out" art installation was deemed a tourist attraction in 1999 and has become a beloved, germy, and highly photographed site.
Before we knew it, it was time to return to the ship. We walked along the boardwalk to Pier 66, boarded, and then the ship left Seattle at 5:00 p.m., heading for Astoria, Oregon—a stop in a state we haven’t visited before.
After Astoria we have two sea days, and then the cruise wraps up with stops in Santa Barbara, Escondido, Mexico, San Diego, and finally back to L.A. on May 16th.
As much as we’re looking forward to getting home, it’s going to be hard to say goodbye to all the people we’ve met along the way.
Glad you enjoyed the Boeing plant tour, Everett is my hometown and heading there in two weeks for a high school reunion. Looks like you have had a wonderful trip so far. Doug