82.1 F
San Fernando
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

City Touts Experience In Bid for Boeing Job

City Touts Experience In Bid for Boeing Job By JACQUELINE FOX Staff Reporter Palmdale officials see their city as a top contender for a contract that carries the potential to revive the long-dormant commercial jet manufacturing industry. The city has submitted its proposal to house a final assembly site for Boeing Co.’s proposed 7E7 project, which, if built, would be the first new commercial aircraft made by the Chicago-based firm since its B-777 hit runways in 1995. The fact that Boeing is considering building a new commercial jet signals a revival of the industry that has otherwise remained relatively flat for the last several years, impacting both large and small jet subcontractors, including the dozens based in Palmdale and across the Antelope Valley region. Boeing, as well as Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin have maintained ancillary facilities at Air Force Plant 42 and surrounding sites in Palmdale for decades, but the focus since the late 1980s has primarily been on defense and aerospace contracts. Jobs in those industries, however, have shrunk significantly over the last decade, although the defense industry has ramped up somewhat since 9-11. Boeing, for example, which once had as many as 3,000 workers based in Palmdale today has roughly 800. Now Boeing says it intends to build 3,000 7E7 Dreamliners over about a three-decade period beginning in 2005 with a target rollout date in 2008. The aircraft is a twin-aisle vessel with seating capacity of between 250 and 300. Palmdale and Boeing officials both say the project would spawn roughly 1,200 new jobs, as many as 5,000 support positions, and pump billions into the local economy. And the city has pulled no punches in flaunting its links to Boeing and the industry in its proposal, which it submitted at the 11th hour June 20. In addition, Palmdale, which is leading an aggressive campaign to ratchet up its status as an economic engine on several fronts, is also banking on support from powerful state and local lawmakers to win the contract. State Sen. Pete Knight, a Palmdale resident whose 17th district includes much of the Antelope Valley is among them. “We have assembled and delivered I don’t know how many airplanes out of Plant 42 and surrounding sites for many, many years,” said Knight. “This would just provide an ideal site because they have the runways already there and they have agreements to use them. Everything is in place.” Palmdale’s status as an enterprise zone could also give the company significant incentives by way of tax and hiring credits. And, because Palmdale also sits within a designated foreign trade zone, Boeing could take advantage of deferrals on import duties, should it opt to manufacture some parts for the 7E7 in countries overseas and bring them in for final assembly. There’s also a building. Site 9 facility Palmdale is offering up the former Rockwell North American Aircraft Plant, known as Site 9, for the 7E7 project. Site 9 sits adjacent to Plant 42 on roughly 1.3 million acres of land owned by Los Angeles World Airports. Rockwell built roughly 100 B-1 bombers in the building during the 1980s before Boeing and others took it over. “I’d say we have a number of very positive things going for us,” said Danny Roberts, Palmdale’s director of economic development who led the Antelope Valley’s “Red Team” in crafting the final 7E7 proposal. “The Site 9 building was used as a final assembly plant for the B-1, so it has all of the things you need to build a commercial aircraft, including high ceilings and built-in cranes. It’s all set up for this kind of project.” In addition, Palmdale Airport, now run by the U.S. Air Force, at Plant 42 next door, is ideal for test flights for the 7E7, said Roberts. If more room is needed, there’s also Edwards Air Force Base, just a few miles north. “We have, structurally, two of the strongest runways in the world,” said Roberts. “Anything that flies can land there. So there is every opportunity to run test flights from Palmdale, or just over the hill.” Boeing officials won’t comment on Palmdale’s chances, or those of any of the other contenders, which include Long Beach, as well as eight other California cities. As many as 14 other states, including Washington, Boeing’s former headquarters, are also in the running. Despite rumors to the contrary, Boeing does not intend to short-list. Instead, company officials say they will likely identify the winning bid sometime before the end of the year. “We are doing this in partnership with a consultant and right now we just feel that we want to treat each potential site with respect so we won’t comment on the merits of any of the proposals,” said Yvonne Leach, a Boeing spokeswoman. Labor pool touted Although not included in the proposal, Palmdale is also hoping that Boeing will take in to account the area’s skilled labor pool, which includes the children of many of the company’s former workers, as well as a number of existing Boeing subcontractors and smaller ancillary businesses nearby. “Certainly we are looking at the larger impact of this project on the local economy because we would not only have direct assembly, but also feeder industries that could be served by existing companies or work to encourage others to locate here,” said Roberts. “Roughly 65 percent of our production in engineering at one point was for Boeing,” said Alex Abramowitz, director of engineering for Crissair Inc., which makes hydraulic parts for aircraft landing gear and flight control systems. Abramowitz said he moved his business from El Segundo to Palmdale in 1982 because land was cheaper there and of course the work was plentiful. He bought a new 40,000-square-foot facility that sits roughly a mile away from Plant 42. Abramowitz said Crissair has already begun crafting proposals for designs for parts for the 7E7 and, like Palmdale, is banking on its established relationships with Boeing and its core of roughly 140 skilled workers to make it stand out. “We are already in the early stages of 7E7 part designing,” said Abramowitz. “We actually went just this last week to a conference in Connecticut to hear all about what to expect for pricing for 7E7 parts. We may get the contracts even if the facility is not built here, but having it here would certainly benefit everyone.”

Featured Articles

Related Articles