Boeing is cutting up to 900 jobs from its Delta launcher and C-17 military transport programmes in Huntington Beach, California, citing a downturn in the global launch services market and the need to better utilise C-17 production sites.
Boeing is moving the bulk of Delta production to Pueblo, Colorado, and Decatur, Alabama, and moving C-17 work out of Huntington, which, like Long Beach, where the aircraft is assembled, was inherited from McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Around 300 jobs will be lost from both the Delta and C-17 workforces over the next two years, while 300 support function positions will also go.
The company says the changes should improve its competitiveness in the launch market and maximise the use of existing Delta production sites, which are 80% under-utilised. The company has cut Delta production by 50% since January 1999 due to the downturn in launch demand, while the programme has also been hit by technical problems.
The Delta II launch vehicle has an excellent reliability record, but the new Delta III suffered two failures on its first two missions. The third Delta III is due to be launched next month, carrying a dummy satellite payload to restore customer confidence.
Work transfer begins in the third quarter, leaving Huntingdon Beach as a programme management centre with responsibility for all expendable launch systems and reusable space system programmes. Some Delta work will remain, including Delta II stainless steel second-stage tank manufacture, Delta IV and Titan IV metal fairing manufacture, Delta II and III composites, electronic modification and rework, and Delta development.
• Boeing is negotiating the purchase of electro-optics specialist SVS of Albuquerque, New Mexico. SVS produces electro-optical and image processing systems for aerospace, defence and commercial customers, including the GeoTrak satellite imaging product and Passive Obstacle Detection System for aircraft obstacle avoidance.
The niche purchase would strengthen Boeing's Laser & Electro Optical Systems division. SVS is currently working on a number of US Department of Defense airborne laser and space-based laser contracts, and is leading a team to define design options for NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder mission.
Source: Flight International
