Northrop forecasts more tanker jobs
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N) has nearly doubled its estimate of the number of jobs it will create on the $35 billion U.S. Air Force refueling tanker program it won over rival Boeing Co (BA.N).
Northrop, using a different forecasting method, said on Monday its handling of the tanker work would create about 48,000 direct and indirect jobs in the United States. That is almost double the 25,000 jobs it initially projected would be created.
The award of the first phase of the tanker contract to Northrop and its European partner EADS (EAD.PA) last month has become a political issue as Boeing's supporters in Congress complain that the decision will mean the loss of U.S. jobs.
Northrop's revised estimate, using the most recent data from suppliers and applying the U.S. Labor Department's formula for projecting aerospace jobs, exceeds the 44,000 jobs which backers of Boeing claim would be supported if Boeing carried out the contract.
The Air Force plans to buy 179 tanker aircraft over the next 15 years to begin replacing its fleet of Boeing KC-135 tankers, which are 47 years old, on average. Boeing was debriefed on the contract award by the Air Force on Friday and is expected to announce whether it will officially protest the decision by Wednesday.
Northrop completed its debriefing with the Air Force on Monday, and said the Air Force called its winning bid "more advantageous to the government" in the key areas of capability, past performance, cost and refueling performance.
Under its plan, EADS will assemble Airbus A330 freighters at a new plant in Mobile, Alabama, while Northrop turns them into military tankers at an adjacent facility.
On Monday, Los Angeles-based Northrop said the assembly and militarization of the tankers would create 1,500 jobs in the United States. EADS has said assembly work in Mobile would create 1,300 jobs.
Last week Northrop said about 2,000 jobs would be transferred to the Mobile assembly facilities from Europe, but a spokesman said on Monday that was "inaccurate."
Mindful of worker protests on both continents, EADS and Northrop now say that no jobs will be transferred between the United States and Europe.
The first of the tankers will be assembled at a plant in Melbourne, Florida, but that work will be transferred once the Mobile facilities are up and running, probably around 2010, a Northrop spokesman said. The first tanker is due to be delivered to the U.S. Air Force in 2013.
According to Northrop, its handling of the work will create 14,000 direct jobs and 34,000 indirect jobs in the United States. Major suppliers to the Northrop/EADS team include General Electric Co (GE.N), Honeywell International Inc (HON.N), AAR Cargo Systems, Sargent Fletcher and Knight Aerospace.
(Reporting by Bill Rigby; Editing by Brian Moss and Tim Dobbyn)
