Our boy Bob Cox at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram alerted DT to his story on the downstream effects of the ARH kill.
Bell Helicopter cuts 500 jobs, mostly in Fort Worth
Faced with the loss of a big defense contract and an impatient corporate parent with a sagging stock price, Bell Helicopter announced Wednesday that it was cutting 500 jobs, mostly from its Fort Worth operations.
The job cuts, which began Tuesday, follow in the wake of the Pentagons Oct. 16 decision to cancel the Armys $5 billion-plus contract with Bell to develop the ARH-70A Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter.
All but about 30 of the layoffs will come from personnel at Bells Fort Worth-area facilities, with the rest from the ranks of its Amarillo work force.
Bell spokesman Joseph LaMarca Jr. said senior Bell executives had been evaluating the companys personnel requirements since the ARH cancellation and concluded that more cuts were needed beyond the 280 people directly assigned to the program.
“It allows us to shape our organization in such a way as to make it a more competitive, very streamlined, lean organization,” LaMarca said.
The layoffs and terminations were being made at all levels, including 40 out of about 200 upper-management positions, which LaMarca described as vice presidents and directors.
Significant numbers of engineers, marketing and other white-collar personnel were included in the cuts, but LaMarca said only about 20 manufacturing workers.
Several dozen managers were notified Tuesday that they were being dismissed, and the rest of those laid off were told Wednesday.
The laid-off Bell employees will receive 60 days of pay and benefits in accordance with federal law, severance pay and outplacement services.
The company was holding meetings with the laidoff and terminated employees to explain the severance package.
Not all of the people working on the ARH program were laid off, LaMarca said. “You have good people you want to keep, with skills you want, so you have to make some other adjustments.”
The Bell layoffs are one of the largest in Tarrant County recently and could foreshadow further cuts by companies as the U.S. economy slides into what many observers say will be the most severe recession in at least two decades.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area added a net 54,300 jobs in the 12 months ending in September, said Bernard Weinstein, head of the Center for Economic Research and Development at the University of North Texas in Denton, but he says that kind of performance probably isnt in the cards for 2009.
“Like it or not, were part of the national economy,” Weinstein said. “The national economy is in a recession. Well feel it too.”
At least two of the positions Bell cut were reportedly senior managers assigned to Bell Agusta Aerospace, Bells joint venture with Italys AgustaWestland helicopter manufacturer to develop the BA609 civilian tilt-rotor aircraft.
The Star-Telegram reported in July that Bell officials enthusiasm for that program had cooled significantly and that the company would likely turn over a larger share of the development effort to Agusta.
LaMarca said discussions with Agusta over the future of the BA609 were continuing.
Read the rest of this story and other gouge on Texas-based aviation developments at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
– Christian
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Here is a stupid question,why couldn’t they put the surveillance mast of the OH-58 Kiowa on to the body of the ARH helicopter? Why did it have to be a whole new surveillance podt under the body design? It seems like they only need to update the helicopter portion of the OH-58 Kiowa. What the hell,did the new helicopter itself not work? If it was just a problem with the pod,scrap the pod. The ARH was going to be armed just like the OH-58,there was no difference there,right? Wasn’t the ARH based on the Bell 417 commercially based helicopter? Why the hell couldn’t this version(or whatever version was used) be used to upgrade the OH-58 Kiowa?
What you are witnessing is the shrinking of the aviation industry into one big corporation,monopolies be damned. Bell will no doubt have to merge with Sikorsky in the U.S. to survive. You will also see the same thing with Northrop Grumman,Lockheed,& Boeing having to merge to survive. Of course all of these companies will have to partner with the U.S. Government,who will also have a major share in the stocks of these companies,& who will have CONTROLLING interest in the surviving companies. This will be a fascist economy,just like what you see in Japan & the European Union.
For those who think I’m nuts using the phrase “fascist economy,” they need to look up specifically “fascist economy,” ignore all of the “nationalist” BS,or “Right Wing” BS. Under the definition of “fascist economy,” even the USSR practiced a “Fascist Economy.”
Well this is what they get for not staying on schedule and within budget.
I know we all want programs to run smoothly, stay in the budget, and be on time. And we hate when exciting programs fall behind, run over budget, and seem to be bungled on a regular basis. People are especially critical of NASA, which I find slightly unfair, but none-the-less true.
The only way to keep this cycle from continueing is to punish companies by going in another direction or giving competitors a shot. But it sucks when workers lose their job because of it.
Schedule and budget are issues in every DoD program and the initial cause is typically the DoD and their floating requirements.
Believe it or not this is actually for the better.
What? No opinion on the prospect of Bell Textron being forced to merge with or be absorbed by Sikorsky? This would create one big monopoly in the U.S. for helicopters,both military & civilian,& pretty much end the “capitalist” system concerning competition between two companies. Add the U.S. Government into the mix as “senior partner” who severely regulates both the building of,& shades of the former USSR,how many get built & what model each of helicopters.
The same will go for Northrop Grumman,Lockheed Martin,& Boeing as far as military & civilian aircraft goes. Again,the U.S. Government will be “senior partner” in this arrangement & severely regulate both the building & how many get built.
The automobile industry is already headed in this direction,& the U.S. Government(or rather the Central Bankers) has already taken over the banking & other financial industries. Capitalism is officially dead in the USA!!!!
You need to stop pissing & moaning over the “small stuff” & look at the BIG PICTURE.
What if the DOD simply cancelled the ARH to cause this “government controlled” merger to take place? The same can be said with other military programs & projects whose cancellation would put the companies responsible for building them to be at the brink of bankruptcy(& ripe for merger acquisition AND under Government Control.It would be like putting Bell Telephone back together again by causing the “forced” merger of the smaller companies created after its breakup).
Bell can reuse the Idle plant for these or sell plant for these below:
Voc Tech Ed Training Center
Mall
Museum
Parking garage complex
X Plane Test Center
Venture Business Seedbank
GunRange
Aircraft Sim Trainer for pilots.
Copter Modification Center
Kit Copter Plant
Kit Plane & Car Plant
Auto Customizing center
Offices
VTOL Port for cityarea.
Bell Copters Musuem Center
TV & Movie Prod center
from 1 plant.