ROME - Empire Aero Center's new maintenance contract with JetBlue Airways Corp., and potential deals like it, are part of a plan to attract almost 700 more jobs in the next five years, Empire Aero President Brian Olsen said.
The two companies signed a contract at a Monday news conference at Empire Aero's facility at Griffiss Business and Technology Park in Rome Monday. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, state and local officials, and Empire Aero employees attended.
Empire Aero will provide heavy maintenance support to JetBlue's Airbus A320 planes, the first of which is set to arrive by May. The contract calls for as many as 12 planes to be serviced at Empire Aero next year.
Founded in 2000, Forest Hills-based JetBlue has a fleet of 96 Airbus A320 planes, with another 82 on order. Empire Aero will take on 20 percent of JetBlue's maintenance work next year, JetBlue Founder and Chief Executive Officer David Neeleman said.
The contract has the potential to be a multi-year, long-term agreement, according to officials from both companies.
"Do a good job, we'll bring more airplanes," Neeleman said.
Olsen declined to discuss the value of the contract, but said the average cost for a plane's repair is "a couple hundred thousand dollars."
Empire Aero is on track to continue strong employment and business growth since its relocation from Miami to Rome in January 2004, according to the company's officials. The company employs about 350 people, 100 of whom have been hired this year leading up to this contract.
Empire Aero's business plan calls for the company to have 1,000 employees within the next five years, Olsen said.
Those goals are dependent upon Empire Aero taking on more "blue chip" clients - those who are value-centered and willing to pay competitive prices, Olsen said. He also defined those customers as having sizable fleets for which they are willing to schedule regular maintenance.
Air Canada and Virgin Atlantic Airways are two existing clients that fall into that category, Empire Aero spokesman Rick Smith said. The addition of JetBlue will cause a ripple effect among the airline industry, according to company and government officials said.
"When we get on an airplane to go somewhere, we are depending on the quality work that goes into repair and maintenance," said Clinton, who said she was part of the effort to convince Empire Aero's parent company, Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd., to consider Griffiss as a home for Empire Aero.
Empire Aero's airline mechanics jobs fall into the sector of transportation, housing and utilities, which gained 100 jobs between October 2005 and October 2006, said Brion Acton, senior economist at the state's Department of Labor. There are 4,600 people employed in that industry in the Utica-Rome area.
While the sector isn't the fastest growing in the area, its relationship to manufacturing does provide some sort of a cushion for the steep manufacturing losses the region has experienced in the past several years, Acton said. "So it's a good fit for the area and for people that have traditionally worked in manufacturing and have lost their jobs," he said.
The Utica-Rome area lost 600 manufacturing jobs between October 2005 and October 2006, and 3,300 manufacturing jobs between October 2001 and October 2006, he said.
After a Base Realignment and Closure process in the late 1990s ended most of the Air Force functions at Griffiss, the building now occupied by Empire Aero was left 75 percent unoccupied. Economic development officials said they sought to revive the aviation sector in some capacity in the 376,000 square feet of available space in the building at 394 Hangar Road.
"Our thought process was, when Griffiss closed, of all our aviation options, we thought maintenance had the strongest potential," said Steve DiMeo, president of Mohawk Valley EDGE, a Rome-based economic development agency serving Oneida and Herkimer counties.
Empire Aero's taking over the space two years ago is considered a coup, especially given the company's hiring pace, officials said.
"I mean we're a small company; as far as some of the larger (maintenance repair operators) but we're getting there," said Chuck Rasch, avionics technician at Empire Aero. "Slowly but surely, we're getting more and more people in," the Little Falls resident said.
Empire Aero can accommodate about 10 planes for repair at its Hangar Road facility. Its mechanics - who are being hired at a rate of 10 per month - must be certified to work on any plane in the facility, including 767s, 747s and DC10s, Human Resources Director John Kupiec said.
The company is optimistic about its ability to find qualified mechanics, particularly with the inception of Mohawk Valley Community College's new airframe and power plant program nearby.
Ten students are currently in the program's first class, but each of the three classes held per year can accommodate 25 students.
"The training is customized toward skills that Empire Aero Center sees a need for," said Walt Constantini, director of the program. Students have a first line of employment with Empire Aero, which also offers internships to those students, he said.
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