Published February
2004
Goodrich
hiring
as business heats up
By
Bryan Corliss
Herald Business Writer
Goodrich Corp. is
looking to hire up to 100 aircraft mechanics at its Everett jet maintenance
facility, the largest round of hiring in Snohomish County’s aerospace
industry since Sept. 11, 2001.
“This is big time
relief,” said Jan Scudder, an account executive with the Work Source office
in Everett. “I’ve handled so many layoffs since 9-11, to have any hiring,
I want to dance and click my heels.”
The new workers would
represent only a fraction of the number of workers Goodrich has shed over
the past two years. But “it’s nice to be going in this direction,” said
Steve Bence, vice president of marketing and program management for Goodrich’s
Everett-based Aviation Technical Services unit.
A number of things
are happening to push new business to Goodrich’s Everett facility, which
specializes in heavy maintenance and modification of airliners, particularly
Boeing 737s.
For starters, the
airline industry is starting to return to some sort of normalcy, Bence
said, and companies are starting to recall some of the 2,000 jets that
have been parked in the desert since Sept. 11, 2001. Goodrich anticipates
that most will stay parked, but about 600 are likely to come back into
service.
“All of these airplanes
need some sort of maintenance and modification, engineering services,”
Bence said. “All of these things we do.”
Often, the planes
belong to jet leasing companies who have found new airlines with which
to place them. In many cases, they’re going to low-fare carriers, which
is good news for Goodrich because typically those airlines outsource their
maintenance work, Bence said.
That means the planes
need to be repainted on the outside in the new airliner’s color scheme,
Bence said. The jets also need new seating, new interior color schemes
and cockpit overhauls to make the flight decks compatible with the new
airline’s fleet.
“That fits our skills
extremely well,” he said.
In addition, the
new 757 cargo conversion program at Goodrich has sparked interest from
jet owners who have the Boeing single-aisle jets parked in the desert,
and some airlines are starting to look for newer used wide-body jets to
add to their fleets.
Goodrich also has
a contract to install fuel-saving winglets on 737s. And the company’s
bread-and-butter business — regular maintenance checks — is picking up
as airlines put more jets in the air.
“All that activity
adds up to that we’re a little short-handed,” Bence said.
For now, Goodrich
is looking for nearly 100 mechanics to fill its openings, with the possibility
of more in the future, he said. The company is trying to contact the more
than 450 workers it has laid off since 2001, but doesn’t have a formal
call-back arrangement.
“Hopefully, they’re
still available to come back to work,” Bence said.
It has been a long
time since there has been significant hiring in the county’s aerospace
industry, Scudder said.
Lockheed Martin has
hired away 40 former Boeing workers from here to work on the Joint Strike
Fighter in Texas, she said. And Boeing continued recruiting for a handful
of specialized jobs, even as it was laying off more than 35,000 people.
A few smaller aerospace companies have added workers, thanks to contracts
with Airbus or Embraer.
The Goodrich workers
and some related new jobs amount to some long-awaited good news, Scudder
said.
“All the buzz is
going, ‘Something’s happening.’”
There also has been
a pick-up in overall hiring activity, she said, with jobs opening up in
construction, manufacturing, warehousing and office work. “That’s really
positive.”
But while the news
is good, it doesn’t mean that hard times are over, she said.
“There’s a lot of
people still on unemployment who have exhausted their benefits,” Scudder
said. “I know we’ve got a long way to go.”
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