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, the 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’s 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.
The market remains severely depressed, he added. Just this week, competitor Ozark Aviation Services in Arkansas went out of business. But he said Goodrich is hopeful.
"It’s been a while since we’ve done this," he said. "Maybe it’s good news."
It’s been a long time since there’s 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. Boeing itself has 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 pickup 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."
Reporter Bryan Corliss:
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