Boeing [BA] said on Monday evening that it is consolidating most of its defense services and support activities from Washington State to other locations in the United States as part of ongoing efforts to improve the competitiveness of its defense business.
Boeing said that the relocation effort will take up to three years and affect about 2,000 employees, most of which will be relocated to Oklahoma City, Okla., and St. Louis, Mo. Work will also be relocated to Jacksonville, Fla., and Patuxent River, Md.
Boeing’s Defense, Space & Security segment currently has about 5,200 employees in the Puget Sound area where it produces the Navy P-8 maritime patrol aircraft and Air Force KC-46A Tanker. Boeing’s Commercial Airplanes segment also has a major presence in the region, which the company said it will take advantage of to soften the impact on affected defense employees. Still, a Boeing spokeswoman told Defense Daily
via email that some job cuts are expected.
“The decision to consolidate these activities was difficult because it affects our employees, their families and their communities,” Chris Chadwick, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, said in a statement. “However, this is necessary if we are going to differentiate ourselves from competitors and stay ahead of a rapidly changing global defense environment.”
Chadwick also stated that the prospects for the P-8 and KC-46A programs are bright given “decades-long production runs in front of them.”
The work being relocated from Washington includes services and support for Airborne Warning and Control Systems, Airborne Early Warning & Control, and the F-22 Raptor. Boeing said that once the move is completed, up to 900 jobs could be added to Oklahoma City and 500 to St. Louis.
In Oklahoma Boeing’s Global Services & Support workforce provides engineering, software, logistics services and aircraft maintenance in support of the B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers, the E-3 AWACS, the E-4B Airborne Command Post, and E-6 TACAMO, the KC-10 and KC-135 tankers, and T-43, C-32 and C-40 737 derivative aircraft. In the St. Louis region, the company produces the F/A-18 Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler and F-15 aircraft, the Joint Direct Attack Munition, the Harpoon missile, Small Diameter Bomb, and major sections of the C-17 airlifter.
Boeing has a small footprint Jacksonville and Patuxent River where it serves its Navy customers. The company spokeswoman said adding a small number of additional staff to these locations will provide “greater opportunity to understand and respond to their needs.”
Boeing’s engineers union late Monday said Boeing’s consolidation plans are “the latest snub by corporate leaders to the engineers, technical workers and to Washington State tax payers.” The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace said that less than a year ago the state’s legislature passed $8.7 billion in tax breaks for the aerospace industry in Washington, with Boeing benefiting the most.
The union also said that since the tax break was passed, Boeing has already announced plans to move 1,000 research and technology jobs and another thousand Commercial Airplane support jobs out of the state. The represents 2,258 employees in Boeing’s defense segment.
In 2010, Boeing began a series of affordability initiatives in the Defense, Space & Security segment with plans to generate billions of dollars in savings through 2015. Those initiatives included a major consolidation of defense units and facilities at the start of 2013.
Boeing said that it will be assisting its employees during the transition through job searches, retirement seminars, and career counseling.