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July 6, 2006
About 135 Lockheed Martin employees have been given two months' notice that they might lose their jobs, and the company indicated that additional layoffs are likely later this year.
Lockheed issued layoff warning notices to 115 hourly and 20 salaried workers at the company's Fort Worth aircraft assembly plant late last week, informing them that they are likely to be laid off as of Aug. 28.
Most of the affected employees now work on the F-16 fighter jet program. After gearing up production early in the decade to fill export orders, including hiring and training workers, Lockheed has gradually slowed F-16 production and cut jobs over the last two years as new orders have dwindled to a trickle.
Joe Stout, a Lockheed spokesman, said Wednesday that further reductions in the F-16 work force are likely "as we transition to a lower steady state of production."
Lockheed cut about 800 workers from the F-16 program in 2004, an additional 1,000 in 2005, and trimmed 300 more in January. Stout said he did not have a current figure for F-16 production employment but based on the previous layoff announcements, the number should be less than 4,000.
Total employment at the Fort Worth plant is still about 15,000, Stout said, reflecting the continual ebb and flow of workers needed on the various military aircraft programs.
"A lot of the employees notified in the past found other jobs in the company," Stout said.
The company notified the Texas Workforce Commission on Monday of the impending layoffs.
Jobs being cut in the latest round of layoffs include a large number of aircraft assemblers and electrical installers, as well as a number of engineers.
With the prospect of the new F-35 joint strike fighter becoming available within a decade, most aerospace analysts see relatively few new opportunities for F-16 sales. The State Department last week notified Congress of the planned sale of up to 36 new F-16s to Pakistan.
India is expected to soon request proposals to purchase upward of 125 fighter jets, a contract Lockheed is expected to pursue by offering F-16s.
Even new orders for F-16s might not reverse the employment cuts. Lockheed officials are contemplating outsourcing additional F-16 manufacturing and assembly work, said Pat Lane, president of Machinists union Local 776.
"We're going to be in discussions with the company to try to minimize the impact on our members."
Lockheed received Air Force contracts Wednesday totaling $652 million for additional work on the F-22 fighter jet program, but the bulk of F-22 work is performed at Lockheed's Marietta, Ga., plant.
Even the expected buildup of F-35 production in the future is not expected to have a huge impact on total employment, because many of the aircraft components are being manufactured by other companies. "When the F-35 gets into production, there could be some moderate increases," Stout said.
F-16 LAYOFFS
Production of the F-16 at Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth plant has been winding down for years. Here is a list of recent job cuts.
2004: 800
2005: 1,000
January 2006: 300
June 2006: 135 notified, most of whom work on the F-16.
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