Boeing, engineers reach tentative contract

CHICAGO, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- The Boeing Co. has reached a tentative contract agreement with its aerospace engineers averting a possible strike, union leaders said Saturday.

Details of the tentative pact between Boeing, based in Chicago, and the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, representing 21,000 employees, were set to be released later Saturday, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The contract would avert a second walkout by a Boeing union this fall. The aerospace company's machinists walked out and shuttered its aircraft assembly lines for much of September and October, contributing to delays in the production of two new planes, the 787 Dreamliner and a larger version of Boeing's 747 jumbo jet, the newspaper said.