Long haul ahead for Russell employees

When 654 employees of Russell Investments filled out a July survey on how they get to work in downtown Tacoma, they had little inkling that daily trip would soon require a sharp turn to the north.

If they follow their jobs when Russell moves its headquarters to downtown Seattle next year, 6 out of 7 will be traveling from south of the King-Pierce county line, the survey data show.

Two thirds of Russell's employees now drive alone to work, an average trip of about 12 miles. Those living in Tacoma or points south now face an added 34 miles.

Russell announced Wednesday that it will move into a signature building in downtown Seattle, the former WaMu Center. In an e-mail to employees, CEO Andrew Doman wrote, "It is very much my hope that associates will rally around this growth opportunity for Russell and choose to stay with us as we make this transition."

That will be easier for some than for others. A few Russell employees live at the northern edge of Seattle or beyond — their marathon commute just got a lot shorter. But a larger number live in south Kitsap Peninsula towns such as Gig Harbor, or even in Thurston County; those employees may find the daily trip to Seattle daunting.

About two-thirds of Russell's 900 employees responded to the survey, conducted as part of the state's Commute Trip Reduction program. Almost 14 percent said they take a bus and 11 percent are in a car pool or van pool, while less than 1 percent travel by rail.

Russell spokeswoman Jennifer Tice says the company has retained a consulting firm, Transportation Management Services, to help develop some commute options. Those include "direct shuttles to the rails," to get workers to and from the Tacoma-Seattle Sounder trains or Sound Transit's new light-rail line, she says. The company already has van-pool and car-pool programs.

Russell isn't considering any financial help for employees who may want to move north. But it plans a resource center with information on Seattle-area neighborhoods and schools, as well as relocation experts who can advise employees, she says.

The News Tribune of Tacoma this week reported one Russell employee's reaction to the prospect of a longer trip to work: "There are still things I like about my job, but I'm moving from a 10-minute commute to basically a 50-minute commute on a good day," the woman, who requested that her name not be used out of concern for her job, told the TNT. "That's two additional hours out of my day."

Boeing partner

drops composites

for a plane wing

If an airplane manufacturer decides that making wings out of composite plastic is not such a great idea and switches to aluminum wings, the managers of Boeing's 787 program will likely pay attention.

When the company in question is Mitsubishi of Japan, the maker of the 787 composite plastic wings, one might expect alarm bells going off in Everett.

This week, Mitsubishi dropped its plan to put carbon-fiber-reinforced composite plastic wings on its Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), a proposed family of 78-, 92-, and 100-seat aircraft.

The Japanese manufacturer said the switch to an aluminum wing box "will make it easier to manufacture the optimal wing structure" for the different MRJ models.

Mitsubishi has had its share of manufacturing problems on the 787, most recently when discovery of a design flaw where the wing joins the fuselage prompted a new six-month delay.

Has the 787 experience made Boeing's partner wary of composites?

No, say Boeing and Mitsubishi.

Mitsubishi spokesman Kenichi Nakamura, responding via e-mail, said the MRJ wing decision "has no relationship with the 787 program."

The difference, he said, is the size of the airplane.

Boeing spokeswoman Debbie Nomaguchi elaborated by pointing out that the benefits of composite material vary depending on both the size of an airplane and the way it is flown. A regional jet carries fewer passengers and typically flies much shorter routes than a 787-size jet.

"When you go to a smaller plane, the weight savings you get on a 787-size plane don't necessarily scale down proportionately," Nomaguchi said. "When we eventually come to design a 737 replacement, we'll have to make a very complex analysis of all the trade-offs in making a decision on aluminum versus composites."

Besides cost, weight, range and performance, she said, Boeing will consider market appeal, the current state of materials technology, and ease of maintenance, and then select the material that provides best overall value to its customers.

Aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia concurred that the size of the airplane and the distances it will be flown are major factors in whether it makes sense to use composites.

"Twin aisles sure, narrow-bodies maybe, business jets maybe," he said. "But RJs definitely not."

He says the MRJ was originally supposed to have been all-composite, but Mitsubishi quietly dropped the idea of a composite fuselage a year earlier.

"The road to composite aircraft manufacturing is a lot slower and more uneven than people thought a few years ago," said Aboulafia.

— Dominic Gates

Seattle Times reporters

Justin Mayo and Mike Lindblom contributed to this column.

Comments? Send them

to Rami Grunbaum: rgrunbaum@-

seattletimes.com or 206-464-8541