SO CAL COMPANY LANDS AIRBUS CONTRACT
CHULA VISTA - 02/24/05 - The Goodrich Corp. has said that its Southern California-based Aerostructures Division will make key parts for the initial version of the new 245-passenger Airbus A350 jetliner.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the work comes under the terms of a contract that the company has valued as high as $6 billion over the next 20 years.
The Goodrich unit, which has about 2,000 employees at its Chula Vista facility near San Diego, will develop the engine housings - called "nacelles" - and engine thrust "reversers" for the new EU-designed passenger plane, the paper said.
Developing the components will require the use of new acoustic properties and advanced composite materials, according to a company release.
Other components for the A350 will be supplied by companies in Spain, France, Germany, and Britain.
The A350 is a variant of Airbus's veteran A330, equipped with new wings and engines.
The order is the first supply agreement to be announced for the A350 with the actual work performed in Chula Vista and Toulouse, France, where Airbus is based and Goodrich's Aerostructures Division operates a major assembly plant.
In addition to Chula Vista and Toulouse, the Aerostructures Division has a total of 4,000 employees at eight sites around the world including another Southern California facility in Riverside.
The $6 billion value Goodrich gave for its A350 contract was based on a 20-year life span for the aircraft and production rates consistent with its A330, the paper said.
The A350 is expected to go into service in 2010. The company is also producing multiple versions of the A350, with seating for between 245 to 285 passengers and a range of 8,600 miles to more than 9,800 miles.
Seattle, Washington-based Boeing's 787 Dreamliner - formerly known as the 7E7 - is the new A350's primary competitor, which is scheduled to begin service in 2008.
Boeing is making multiple versions of that plane with seating that ranges between 223 and 296 passengers and a range of between 4,000 miles and 9,500 miles.
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