James Johnson -- Lifelong Desire To Work With Jets Fulfilled At Boeing

-- Name: James T. Johnson

-- Age: 46.

-- Position: Vice president-general manager, The Boeing Co.'s Everett division.

-- Quote: "We're focusing on resolving production problems early."

James T. Johnson may have disappointed the venerable "Music Man," but he's made up for it at The Boeing Co.

It was the "Music Man," who predicted in the Broadway musical:

"We've got trouble, trouble right here in River City...

"That starts with T and that rhymes with P and that stands for pool," Robert Preston sang.

"I shot plenty of pool in Pete's (the hall that inspired the musical)," Johnson said. But, instead of joining a band as Meredith Willson's Music Man suggested, Johnson got interested in flying machines, and aerospace became his career.

He will become vice president-general manager of Boeing's Everett division July 1, after 25 years at the company. That's despite the fact he grew up playing pool in Mason City (River City), Iowa, where dire things were said to happen to youngsters who hung out at the pool hall.

He got hooked on airplanes early. "The son of a neighboring farmer flew a small plane to a cornfield when I was 10, and I decided I wanted to be a pilot," he recalled.

Johnson's hopes were dashed when he found out in high school that he had to get glasses. So he turned to engineering, earning a master's degree in aeronautical engineering at Iowa State University. Without even visiting Boeing, in 1965 he accepted a job as a 747 performance engineer.

"Ron Larson (now director of human resources for the 777 division at Boeing) was so convincing on the phone that I canceled visits to others and agreed to take the job," Johnson recalled.

As an "innocent farm boy," who had traveled little, Johnson said when he arrived he was overwhelmed with the size of the Boeing complex and Seattle . The giant and still-growing Everett plant he will be directing wasn't even open then.

Johnson took to his work on the then-new 747 and spent several years in Everett. He later completed several assignments in Renton (most recently division manager).

He worked his way up in responsibility for the 747, handling certification testing to chief of technology for the model. Johnson called working on the 747 in those early days "exhilarating."

"We didn't realize all of the big business things (financial strain) happening to the company at the time (a downturn in the airline business and loss of the supersonic jet contract threatened the company in the early 1970s). "We were involved with engineering problems (including engine difficulties) and it was thrilling getting them solved," Johnson said.

That was the atmosphere when Johnson began building a career-long friendship with fellow manager Phil Condit, now vice president and head of the 777 division, which will be moving to Everett as the new plane goes into production.

The two are too busy in their own realms to see much of each other these days, but grab opportunities where they can:

"We still get to share ideas in funny places, such as a car ride into town from an airshow," Condit said.

He praised Johnson for his capability to look ahead. "Where we're going is very important," Condit said.

Johnson's life was so immersed in the 747 20 years ago that he got a new house in Bellevue numbered 747 and a telephone prefix of 747 (which he still has).

He was selected in 1977 for a Sloan fellowship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Masters of Business program. When he returned to Boeing he held a succession of jobs as he moved up: chief of technology, project engineer for the 757 then being developed, and vice president of engineering. He became vice president-product development and general manager of the 7J7 program in 1986. When development of that proposed 150-seat jetliner fizzled in late 1987, he moved to the Renton division manager's chair.

"I've had a great career," he said. "I've been a lead engineer and had lots of customer contact. I met all of the old-timers in the business and all of that made me a better engineer. I wouldn't do anything differently."

Johnson is among the younger executives, including Condit, expected to move up to top management in the future.

"Johnson is an aggressive leader," said Walt Braithwaite, director of program management in the Renton division. "He was able to pull together a strong team for us four years ago and he'll need to do that in Everett."

Braithwaite described Johnson as "very demanding," but said he is "well liked and respected." William Shineman, who is retiring and making way for Johnson at Everett, said Johnson "is bringing a lot to the table" at a time when the Everett plant is growing rapidly.

One of Johnson's long-time interests has been continuous quality improvement. He and Condit started thinking of ways to improve quality and processes as far back as 1982 and 1983.

"We got our first glimpse then of what a powerful concept this is," Johnson said. CQI is a well-known participatory management process that recognizes input from the line workers and makes them responsible, improves communication and reduces control from autocratic managers.

Today, Johnson is determined that his employees will "take ownership of their jobs" and reduce wasted time, wasted materials and unacceptable work. "Everyone can apply it to his job," he said.

Johnson calls himself an advocate for workers and said he loves to walk through the factories and talk with them about their jobs and their problems. He has separate weekly meetings with managers and production workers and other sessions with a cross-section of employees.

The biggest challenge Johnson sees at Everett will be to keep continuous quality improvement going while getting ready for production of the 777 twinjet, which will require about 10,000 more workers. He'll have to do that, he said, without jeopardizing efficiency in production of the 767 and 747 which are also assembled in Everett.

Some of the work preparing for the 777 already is under way, even though production won't begin for about two years. "We have learned that we need to get started earlier to get the right tools and equipment and to train workers for a new airplane," Johnson said. "We're focusing on resolving problems early."

Johnson says his biggest thrill in watching aircraft being assembled comes at that critical moment in the factory when two major parts of the fuselage - each containing thousands of parts - are joined, and they fit.

Johnson and his wife, Sue, have four grown children. For relaxation he likes to sail, ski, golf and play tennis.

Johnson is most at home in his woodworking shop where he's turned out everything from tables to a wine cellar. One particular favorite is a reversible table that has a chess board and a backgammon board on one side.

He collected the pieces of wood while taking the 757 on a worldwide tour.

Profile appears weekly in the Business Monday section of The Seattle Times.