The congresswoman who must save Boeing

This photo tells you pretty much everything you need to know about what was going on yesterday at the Boeing plant in Ridley.

The job of saving Boeing's Chinook upgrade program - and the thousands of local jobs tied to it - will fall largely on the shoulders of Mary Gay Scanlon.

That's here standing on the tarmac of the Ridley plant during an event to roll out the first Block II Chinook as part of the upgrade program.

The question now is how many more will there be?

The Army has indicated they want to delay the program. They are moving in another direction, looking for more high-tech goodies, as opposed to this latest version of the old, reliable workhorse Chinook.

Scanlon, D-5 of Swarthmore, who won election last November, now inherits what has traditionally been the role of Delco's member of Congress.

That means protecting local jobs. And Boeing is the biggest employer in the county.

It's a job that was handled for two decades by Republican Curt Weldon. Then the mantle was picked up by Democrat Joe Sestak and the GOP's Pat Meehan.

Scanlon has circulated a letter among her D.C. colleagues from across the region and also testified before the House Appropriations Committee, all in an effort to galvanize support for the Chinook upgrade program.

You can read about yesterday's event here.

And on our editorial page, we note this is just the latest volley in the battle to save jobs at Boeing.

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