Texas lures 1,000 aviation jobs from Tennessee
NASHVILLE (AP) — Vought Aircraft Industries, lured to expand in Texas with a multimillion dollar package, will close its Nashville plant and move about 1,000 jobs to Dallas, the company said Thursday.
The manufacturer of aircraft parts received $35 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund as part of the deal to create about 3,000 new jobs in the Dallas area, boosting the company’s work force there to about 6,270.
“The prolonged and dramatic downturn in the airline industry has been extremely challenging,” Tom Risley, Vought’s president and chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement. “We have taken a hard look at our long-term business plan to remain competitive. Eliminating excess facility costs and plant modernization are two areas of focus.”
Work at the Nashville plant will be transferred to Dallas over the next 18 to 36 months.
Vought said all Nashville employees will be offered a transfer to Dallas with relocation benefits. Workers declining the offer will receive a severance package.
“It’s disappointing,” said Bill Stacy, business manager for International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, District Lodge 711 in Nashville. “There are a lot of jobs (at Vought) in Nashville and we’d like to continue to be here. But the dollars the company was able to generate in Texas for the move makes it a done deal.”
Texas Gov. Rick Perry said use of state funds to attract new jobs will pay off in the future.
“Taxpayers can know this is a wise investment of public dollars because, once this expansion is finalized, the annual return will be more than twice the original investment,” Perry told employees during a rally at the company’s Dallas site.
Stacy said about 300 Nashville workers are eligible to retire and most are expected to do so. He didn’t know how many would accept the transfer to Dallas.
“For the young people, it would probably be a good deal for them to take the jobs in Dallas,” he said. “We have a skilled work force and they’re good-paying jobs.”
Union jobs at the Nashville plant pay about $19.70 to $21 a hour, Stacy said.
Vought’s release cited the size of the Nashville plant — more than 2 million square feet, a large portion of which is not used — in explaining the relocation decision.
Dawn Rutledge Jones, director of communications for the state Department of Economic and Community Development, said the state hadn’t received official notification that Vought planned to move the jobs to Texas.
“We’ll work hard to remarket the facility to bring some of the jobs back to Tennessee,” she said. “Tennessee is competitive with surrounding states.”
The company said it also plans to move about 375 workers from Stuart, Fla. to Texas.
Vought Aircraft Industries manufactures parts for commercial and military jets, including wings, tail sections, fuselage panels, thrust reversers and doors. Major customers include Airbus, Boeing, Gulfstream, Lockheed Martin and Northrup Grumman.
Vought is privately held. The company reported revenues of about $1.2 billion in 2003.
Chance Vought, chief engineer for the Wright Brothers, founded the company in 1917 in Long Island, N.Y. In 1922, the company built the first airplane to take off from a carrier and its planes have been part of the Navy for 75 years.
Vought Aircraft is perhaps best known for building the full-winged Corsair fighter in World War II. The last two Squadrons of A-7E aircraft, the last planes built by Vought as a prime contractor, were retired in 1991 after flying in Operation Desert Storm.
The Nashville plant opened in 1939 as Stinson Aviation Co. As a division of Aviation Co., it was the third largest producer of war materials during World War II.
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On the Net:
Vought Aircraft Industries Inc., http://www.voughtaircraft.com/
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