Vought Aircraft Industries CEO Tom Risley is retiring, newspapers in Texas report.
Vought is the parent company of Contour Aerospace Corp. of Everett, which produces fuselage skins, spars, stringers and pylons and is home to a small-parts machining center for aircraft components and interiors.
Vought also is a key supplier to Boeing’s 787 program, and Risley is credited with the decision to establish a new factory in South Carolina with Italian manufacturer Alenia where the two companies will produce fuselage sections. (Vought’s got the contract for two of the aft fuselage sections — 47 and 48, to be precise.)
Boeing and Vought have a long-standing relationship and the change at the top of the key supplier isn’t expected to affect that, Lori Gunter, a spokeswoman for Boeing’s 787 program in Everett, told me. Vought and Alenia aren’t expected to deliver their first parts until sometime next year, she said.
Vought spokeswoman Lynne Warne told The Courier and Post in Charleston, S.C., http://www.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=63688§ion=business that the company would deliver the components on time.
Key Quote: “She said the change in leadership would not affect the progress or completion of the large manufacturing complex Vought is building on the outskirts of Charleston International Airport. ‘The plant in Charleston is going to proceed on schedule and on time,’ Warne said.”
The Vought has struggled with Risley at the helm, newspapers report.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/13563997.htm notes that Risley’s plan to centralize is production in Texas hasn’t borne the expected fruit.
Key Quote: “Risley launched a major reorganization of the company, including plans to close factories in Nashville and Stuart, Fla., early in 2004. … Vought has moved significant amounts of work to Dallas from Nashville and Hawthorne, Calif., but has struggled to meet production rates and incurred higher-than-expected costs. … Last month, Risley said the Nashville and Stuart plants would remain open and continue to perform the remaining work because of changes in the business environment and the high costs of relocation …”
And The Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C., added that …
Key Quote: “Vought has bled money and struggled to increase revenue during Risley’s time in the top job. Between 2001 and 2004, losses have totaled nearly $369 million. Over the same period, annual sales have declined from $1.4 billion to $1.2 billion. For the first nine months of 2005, the company had a $214 million loss on revenue of $937 million.”
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