On November 13, 2012, as part of celebrations of the first Boeing 787 delivery to LOT Polish Airlines, the Polish American Chamber of Commerce Pacific Northwest in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Poland and the Boeing International Central Eastern Europe led a seminar focused the strategic partnership between Poland and the US in the Aerospace sector. The event organized at the World Trade Center in Seattle was attended by high ranking officials of the Polish and US government, business and academic communities.
The Honorable Beata Stelmach, Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland and Ryszard Schnepf, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to the United States, presented the economic strength of Poland and potential as to why American companies may consider Poland as an attractive business destination.
Representing the US, Todd P. Schwartz, Deputy Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs at the U.S. Department of State and Eric Stewart, President US-Poland Business Council spoke about resources, lesson’s learned and opportunities for future cooperation in US-Poland trade development.
During the panel discussion, distinguished speakers from the Polish Aviation Valley located in the Podkarpackie region, the management of Bumar – the largest defense group in Poland, the Institute of Aviation in Warsaw, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modeling at the University of Warsaw, the Institute of Economic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and from the Katowice Special Economic Zone, discussed best practices and insights into successful investment and development projects undertaken by Polish and American businesses, showcasing various examples of Poland’s potential in the aerospace industry and the R&D field.
Celebrating the milestone of first European airline to operate a 787 Dreamliner, CEO of LOT Polish Airlines, Marcin Piróg shared the overview of airlines position in the market and plans for the future. LOT will operate the 787 on short-haul flights across Europe in December, and will introduce the Dreamliner on its long-haul passenger service from Warsaw to Chicago in January 2013. LOT will also use the 787 to operate routes from Warsaw to New York, Toronto and Beijing. This delivery is the first of eight Dreamliner’s that LOT has on order from Boeing.
During a lunch reception hosted by Boeing Central and Eastern Europe, participants had an opportunity to hear from Nicole Piasecki, Vice President of Business Development & Strategic Integration for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, speaking about partnership and achievements of the Polish-American innovations, opening of the “Frank Piasecki and others” exhibit in Seattle and celebrated milestone of delivering first Boeing 787 to LOT Polish Airlines.
The seminar “The Polish-American Cooperation in the Aerospace Sector – Partnership Through Innovation”, was moderated by Dr. Henryka Bochniarz, President of Boeing Central & Eastern Europe overseeing Boeing Co.’s business strategy and activities in 12 CEE countries, including Poland.
Coinciding with the first Dreamliner delivery to LOT Polish Airlines a new exhibit opened on November 11, 2012 at the the Museum of Flight in Seattle honoring Frank Piasecki & other Polish aviation designers. The exhibit will be available until the end of February 2013.
On November 14, senior LOT and Boeing executives, as well as Polish and US government officials, and local community representatives, celebrated the historic delivery at the Future of Flight Aviation Center in Mukilteo, Washington, near Boeing’s 787 assembly plant in Everett. The aircraft was officially welcomed upon landing in Warsaw on November 15, by First Lady Anna Komorowska together with other Polish officials and U.S. Ambassador to Poland Stephen Mull.
Photo: Henryka Bochniarz, President of Boeing Central & Eastern Europe and Marcin Pirog CEO of Polish Airlines LOT