CHICAGO — Boeing Co. Chairman Phil Condit, opening the biggest aircraft maker's new headquarters Wednesday in Chicago, said he expects growing space and defense businesses to help Boeing weather a decline in aircraft production.

        “The advantage that the Boeing Company has now is that it's a much broader company,” Mr. Condit told reporters in the lobby of the new headquarters, a 36-story building on the banks of the Chicago River.

        After providing $51 million in incentives to help land Boeing from Seattle, Gov. George Ryan and Mayor Richard Daley welcomed the aerospace giant to town.

        Standing next to a 20-foot-tall blue banner reading “Chicago. Our home town,” the two leaders thanked the aerospace giant for moving and voiced confidence their investment will be returned many times over.

        Only 400 to 500 Boeing employees will be based in Chicago — 0.2 percent of its worldwide work force of 198,000.

        But state and local leaders are enthusiastic about the $4.3 billion long-term economic impact Boeing is projected to have on the area.

        U.S. airlines will lose an estimated $1.5 billion this year as slowing economies force companies to curtail travel, sapping demand for new planes. Mr. Condit said in July that he expects Boeing's jetliner deliveries to slip to as few as 510 next year from 538 in 2001. He plans to make a forecast for 2003 when the company reports third-quarter earnings in October.

        The decline could threaten Mr. Condit's plan to transform Boeing from primarily an aircraft maker into a diversified company with new businesses such as financing and in-flight Internet services.

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