Font ResizeATK's layoff of 550 workers is not the only blow sustained this fall by Utah's aviation and aerospace industry.
Moog Aircraft Group, whose Utah operations include a commercial division that develops flight controls for business jets, told 220 employees on Sept. 22 that their jobs will end when existing contracts are completed.
For some employees, the termination was immediate. Others will continue for varying durations through March, said Joe Green, an executive vice president at Moog Aircraft headquarters in suburban Buffalo, N.Y.
"From our standpoint, any reduction is a heartbreaker," he said Monday. "There are not any new airplane programs and nobody is buying business jets. It's a very, very hard-hit market."
Utah economic development officials are concerned about the cutbacks -- and the impacted individuals -- but hope other job-attraction efforts will provide jobs for some displaced workers.
Spencer P. Eccles, new executive director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development, cited a program to develop unmanned aerial vehicles at Dugway Proving Ground, which will create 200 jobs, possibly 350 long-term.
In addition, the Air Force is shifting a software and engineering group to Hill Air Force Base, possibly creating another 350 aerospace jobs.
"We know the industry will ebb and flow," said Eccles. "The one thing we can control is how we react and create a business friendly environment for those companies."
Green was not certain how many people Moog Aircraft employed at its commercial aircraft division in West Valley City (2268 S. 3270 West). The Economic Development Corporation of Utah's 2009 profile of the state's aviation industry put its numbers between 500 and 999.
Since Moog has about 11,000 employees in the United States and 19 foreign countries, the 220 layoffs represent "a fairly small-scale restructuring," Green said. "On a worldwide basis, we're not talking a high percentage of employees. It just happens to be a high percentage in Salt Lake."
GOED has promoted aviation and aerospace as one of its targeted "economic clusters," based on the concentration of companies along the Wasatch Front. That concentration was spurred by the 1939 development of Hill, which employs nearly 23,000 military and civilian personnel. ATK and SkyWest Airlines are the next-largest employers in this industry, followed by a group of firms similar in size to Moog -- Boeing in Salt Lake City, Parker-Hannifin Corp. in Ogden and the Salt Lake City Airport Authority.
The industry pays well, averaging from $37,400 for production people to $80,370 for aerospace engineers.
If the private-jet business rebounds, Green said Moog will "recontact the people who unfortunately lost their jobs."
But, he added, "these are kind of nasty times. We thought almost nine months ago we were going to escape the [downturn], but we haven't. We have to restructure and get ready for the future."
» Founded in 1951 as a valve company in the basement of Bill Moog's home in East Aurora, N.Y.
» Now has divisions dealing with commercial and military aircraft, motion control and electronic components, medical devices, and space and defense components
» Commercial and industrial work accounts for 60 percent of its revenue, estimated to total $1.83 billion this year. Military and government funding is responsible for the rest.
» Net earnings for 2009 are projected at $85 million, down from $119 million a year earlier.
