Apr. 13—MOSES LAKE — When Boeing first started moving 737 MAX aircraft to the Grant County International Airport, it was only going to be for a few months.

"We were going to be here for six months," said Valdis Martinsons, director of operations in Moses Lake for the Everett-based company. "Here it is three years, and we're still working through this."

At one point, Boeing had more than 250 737 MAX airplanes at GCIA. The plane was grounded in March 2019 after a pair of fatal crashes were linked to a problem with its flight control system. The system was redesigned and the aircraft was recertified for service in late 2020, but during the process, Martinsons said Moses Lake grew from just a place to store aircraft to something bigger and more important for Boeing.

"Moses Lake has proven to be a very important part of our production system and delivery process," he said. "We've got a fire department here. We've got security. We have an engineering team. It's a company within itself here on site."

Boeing employs around 850 in Moses Lake, though that number varies, Martinsons said, depending on projects the company is working on.

According to data from the Grant County Economic Development Council, that makes Boeing the largest private employer in Grant County and the county's second-largest employer overall. The Moses Lake School District has about 1,320 employees.

The company came to Moses Lake in 1947, when the prototype of the B-47 Stratojet bomber ended its first test flight at what was then the Moses Lake Air Force Base, according to an official Boeing history provided by Martinsons. The company built what is now its main hangar in 1956 to support flight testing for the B-52 Stratofortress and KC-135 Stratotanker programs and in 1957 named the very first production model of the venerable KC-135 — which is still flying in Air Force service — "The City of Moses Lake."

According to the history, Boeing continued to use its facility here for flight crew training, in particular supporting Japan Air Lines' 747 pilot training program. It also used and using the hangar for storage and as a place to assemble and test the Condor unmanned aerial vehicle.

Martinsons, who started with Boeing in 1978, said the company works hard to keep aircraft properly stored and maintained in Moses Lake. Each aircraft is sealed, hooked up to environmental control systems and windows are blocked to prevent interior damage from ultraviolet light. Each plane is checked every seven days by crews to ensure electrical systems still work, with more rigorous checks of engines, generators and other systems done less frequently, he said.

Aircraft getting ready for delivery receive more thorough work to make sure all the systems operate, he said, with crews busy constantly in Boeing's hangar and one they lease from AeroTEC. While Boeing doesn't deliver aircraft to buyers directly from Moses Lake, Martinsons said the company's crews in Moses Lake do nearly everything needed to get the aircraft ready for delivery.

"They've been in storage, sometimes for three years. So we've got to focus on the safety of the operation, how those folks work around the airplane, and, of course, the quality of the aircraft," Martinsons said.

Kandyce Pratt is one of those mechanics who spends her days working on 737 MAXes. While she was initially uncertain about relocating to Moses Lake from Renton, Pratt said she and her husband Ed Connor, who works as a hazardous materials handler for Boeing, both have made their homes in Moses Lake.

"I really like working with all the people I work with. I like working with tools. I like following the work instructions, doing our own research and finding the drawings and the specs. I just like the whole process of it," she said. "I love working on airplanes."

In fact, not only have Pratt and her husband made their home here, but members of their extended family have moved out here as well. The couple maintains a place on the West Side, but Grant County feels like home now.

"We both want to stay," she said.

Martinsons said a number of Boeing employees have made the same leap, relocating from the West Side.

"They liked the community. They bring their kids over, and they are well-integrated in the community and the school," he said.

Boeing's presence has gotten in Moses Lake, but Martinsons said the company is still considering what to do with the local operation once all of the 737 MAXes stored here are returned to service by the end of 2024. The company has spent a lot of money upgrading the facility, renting equipment and hiring local talent, including graduates of Big Bend Community College's aviation maintenance program to work on airplanes, he said.

"Common question is, 'Well, what are you going to do after all this investment you just made?' And that is currently being debated," he said.

It wouldn't be the first time a company program came to an end and forced a change in how it does business in Moses Lake. The hangar currently filled with 737s was built for the B-52, the last of which rolled off the company's assembly lines in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Martinsons said the company is still very committed to Moses Lake. Boeing is still hiring, the company has signed up to sponsor the upcoming Moses Lake Airshow, managers are encouraged to donate to local food banks and Boeing has invested heavily in helping encourage middle school students by participating in programs designed to impart good social skills for business as well as bringing students in to tour the hangar and maybe get them interested in a future in aviation.

"We do a lot of that activity as a community. So if you ask anybody out there, they're really feeling like they're part of the community," he said.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.