The three metropolitan areas under consideration--Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Denver--all have lower tax structures. The company plans to choose a city by early summer and be up and running with an operational center there by fall. Boeing says the new corporate center will include less than half the 1,000 employees currently working in its Seattle headquarters, and wil not affect its other 74,800 employees in the region, most of whom work north and south of the city proper at manufacturing facilities in Everett, Renton and Auburn.

The loss of the 1,000-employee headquarters could be looked at as a pittance compared to the 20,000 Seattle-area layoffs by the company over the years. It can also be seen as a precurser to a full-scale exodus from the region that could be carried out as old planes are phased out and new planes are phased in with new manufacturing facilities elsewhere in the nation.

Looking at it as an opportunity are the mayors of Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Denver. In new conferences yesterday, all expressed surprise and then quickly began expressing the reasons why their cities would be the best fit.All three cities have major international airports. Dallas/Ft. Worth would put Boeing close to Americna Airlines. Chicago has UAL Corp., parent of United Airlines, and Denver has undeveloped acreage around Denver International Airport and Stapleton Intrnational Airport. Although Boeing isn't saying, real estate sources say it likley already has select sites in mind within each city.