U.S. Order Expected to Provide Lift for Plane Plant

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It looks like the Southland’s last remaining aircraft assembly plant won’t be shuttered anytime soon.


As early as this week, the U.S. Senate is expected to approve a bill that would provide funding for 15 C-17 Globemaster cargo planes. The hulking aircraft, which are built in Long Beach, support more than 5,000 local jobs.


The funding can keep the factory open at least until 2010, and is a boon for the local aerospace industry, said Jack Kyser, chief economist with the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.


“This is very, very good news,” Kyser said. “You have about 5,500 people working at the plant in Long Beach and overall about 12,000 people around the state working on the program.”

The large aircraft, which were introduced in the early 1990s, are often used to deliver troops and cargo to military bases, for tactical airlift operations and airdrops.

The decision comes as the Pentagon decides whether to put the $35 billion K-35 tanker program back up for competition. Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp., which was initially awarded the contract, has suspended the hiring of thousands of local engineers.

In the meantime, Kyser said, Boeing Co.’s C-17 program can help provide some stability to the local aerospace industry.

The Senate is expected to approve the $161.8 billion Supplemental Appropriations Act as soon as this week, and it would then be sent to the president’s desk for his signature. The bill, which funds a variety of programs, would commit $3.6 billion to the C-17 order.

Labor leaders, California’s senators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have lobbied to keep the program alive, despite fears that it could be nearing its end. The plant has struggled for several years to get enough orders to stay open. The program does not have a multi-year contract and there remains speculation the plant could be forced to shut down.

But the Air Force has identified the program as one of its top unfunded priorities in the coming years and there has been talk of possible international orders for the aircraft, which could provide an additional boost.

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