No one likes to lose a contract renewal bid to a competitor. The chairman of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerces aerospace committee has a message for San Antonio and Texas: One contract is one contract. Stay focused on future opportunities.
Boeing Co.s Global Services and Support center in San Antonio did early this month when the U.S. Air Force awarded a nine-year $3.8 billion deal to Northrop Grumman Corp.s Lake Charles La. facility on the maintenance and repair of KC-10s.
Jim Perschbach the committee chairman and a partner in the San Antonio office of Bracewell & Giuliani law firm says opportunities will come from the U.S. military and airlines because both will rely more on extending the use of older aircraft than they will on building new aircraft.
Various other states see the future the same way and are aiming their job-creation incentives toward these opportunities. The competition will be fierce.
The old McDonnell Douglas company built the KC-10s before Boeing acquired McDonnell Douglas and the technology associated with the aircraft in 1997. So it is a serious ego and monetary blow to Boeing to stop servicing the aerial refueler.
Boeings San Antonio center at Port San Antonio has delivered every KC-10 that needed work back to the Air Force on time more than 750 times since 1998. Somehow the clean performance record the skilled experienced work force and the existing maintenance equipment here didnt lead to a contract renewal.
When the Air Force briefs Boeing on why the company lost its contract the reason likely will come down to dollars and cents. Northrop Grumman could deliver the trained workers and facilities at a lower cost.
How?
Money. The state of Louisiana kicked in $10 million toward worker training and hangar lease funds. The Chennault International Airport Authority added construction and the equipment needed for KC-10 maintenance.
In Texas this just is not available right now" for this kind of project said Perschbach a lawyer who handles regulatory services for aerospace companies.
Thats how this game will be played as future maintenance repair and overhaul contracts are bid and awarded.
San Antonio has about 4000 aerospace workers now. Companies here have been worried for more than a decade because many workers have their roots in the defunct Kelly AFB Air Logistics Center and are nearing retirement.
The high school-to-career Alamo Area Aerospace
Academy does a good job training and certifying new workers for the companies here but it can do only so much. More certified workers suppliers and hangars are needed to win military and airline contracts Perschbach said.
As for Boeings San Antonio center a boost will come when Boeing starts building its Dreamliners and sending some of them to San Antonio for customization. No one knows when that will happen though because of design problems and Boeings union woes in Washington state.
San Antonio by itself cannot compete with job-creation programs conducted by entire states such as Louisiana Oklahoma Alabama and South Carolina to win aerospace contracts.
No one likes to lose a contract renewal bid to a competitor. The chairman of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerces aerospace committee has a message for San Antonio and Texas: One contract is one contract. Stay focused on future opportunities.
Boeing Co.s Global Services and Support center in San Antonio did early this month when the U.S. Air Force awarded a nine-year $3.8 billion deal to Northrop Grumman Corp.s Lake Charles La. facility on the maintenance and repair of KC-10s.
Jim Perschbach the committee chairman and a partner in the San Antonio office of Bracewell & Giuliani law firm says opportunities will come from the U.S. military and airlines because both will rely more on extending the use of older aircraft than they will on building new aircraft.
Various other states see the future the same way and are aiming their job-creation incentives toward these opportunities. The competition will be fierce.
The old McDonnell Douglas company built the KC-10s before Boeing acquired McDonnell Douglas and the technology associated with the aircraft in 1997. So it is a serious ego and monetary blow to Boeing to stop servicing the aerial refueler.
Boeings San Antonio center at Port San Antonio has delivered every KC-10 that needed work back to the Air Force on time more than 750 times since 1998. Somehow the clean performance record the skilled experienced work force and the existing maintenance equipment here didnt lead to a contract renewal.
When the Air Force briefs Boeing on why the company lost its contract the reason likely will come down to dollars and cents. Northrop Grumman could deliver the trained workers and facilities at a lower cost.
How?
Money. The state of Louisiana kicked in $10 million toward worker training and hangar lease funds. The Chennault International Airport Authority added construction and the equipment needed for KC-10 maintenance.
In Texas this just is not available right now" for this kind of project said Perschbach a lawyer who handles regulatory services for aerospace companies.
Thats how this game will be played as future maintenance repair and overhaul contracts are bid and awarded.
San Antonio has about 4000 aerospace workers now. Companies here have been worried for more than a decade because many workers have their roots in the defunct Kelly AFB Air Logistics Center and are nearing retirement.
The high school-to-career Alamo Area Aerospace
Academy does a good job training and certifying new workers for the companies here but it can do only so much. More certified workers suppliers and hangars are needed to win military and airline contracts Perschbach said.
As for Boeings San Antonio center a boost will come when Boeing starts building its Dreamliners and sending some of them to San Antonio for customization. No one knows when that will happen though because of design problems and Boeings union woes in Washington state.
San Antonio by itself cannot compete with job-creation programs conducted by entire states such as Louisiana Oklahoma Alabama and South Carolina to win aerospace contracts.
