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  April 20, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Spirit AeroSystems bringing back some furloughed workers

  WICHITA, Kan. — A major aircraft parts supplier in Kansas is expected to bring about 2,100 furloughed workers back to work next week as Boeing prepares to resume production of its commercial airplanes. Spirit AeroSystems also is planning resume work for more than 1,700 other workers in Wichita over the next three weeks, The Wichita Eagle reported. “As our customer, Boeing, begins to resume production, Spirit AeroSystems will work with our employees, customers and suppliers to begin a phased-in return to work for some furloughed employees," Spirit spokeswoman Keturah Austin said. She added that “this will be a slow process as we work to continue to support our customer's operations in a manner that is safe for all involved.” Boeing said Thursday it will restart production of its commercial airplanes next week in the Seattle area, putting about 27,000 people back to work at its facilities in the Seattle area after operations were suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Boeing employees for the 737, 747, 767 and 777 airplanes will return as early as Monday with most returning to work by Tuesday, Boeing is Spirit AeroSystem's biggest customer, and the impact has rippled to its suppliers. About 2,100 workers, hourly and salaried, are scheduled to return to various production lines at the Spirit plant in Wichita on Monday, according to a union officials and numbers obtained by the newspaper. They'll be joined by another 200 workers on April 27; an additional 1,100 on April 29; and nearly 400 on May 4. Cornell Beard, president of Machinists District Lodge 70, said the returning union workers are still a fraction of the plant's full workforce, “but anything's better than nothing.” The coronavirus has exacerbated Boeing's crisis surrounding the 737 Max, which remains grounded after two deadly crashes. Boeing said Thursday its 737 program “”will resume working toward restarting production"" of the 737 MAX. Spirit produces about 70 percent of the 737 Max, including the fuselage. Contracts with Boeing for the Max represents more than half of Spirit's annual income. Future callbacks at Spirit will be largely dependent on Boeing's performance in getting the 737 Max back in the air, Beard said. “If another mistake is found, or another defect, or if we just encounter another problem, those projections will change again (and) we're going to be right back in this pickle,” Beard said. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2020/04/17/spirit-aerosystems-bringing-back-some-furloughed-workers

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  January 7, 2022 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Les inquiétudes persistent sur la taxonomie européenne réservée au secteur de la défense

  Le président du GIFAS Guillaume Faury s'inquiète des réticences du secteur bancaire à financer le secteur de la défense, appelant les pouvoirs publics français à exercer « une influence sur les critères de sélection des bons investissements (...) un message positif et une direction claire des autorités en général sur tout ce qui est ESG (Environnement, Social, Gouvernance) et taxonomie ». Bruxelles travaille sur la mise en place de nouveaux critères de label écologique de l'UE pour les produits financiers. Un projet de label dont seraient pour le moment exclues les industries de défense européennes. « Nous voulons nous assurer que la défense n'aura pas non seulement un traitement de défaveur, mais au contraire un traitement de faveur dans la capacité de financement » a insisté Guillaume Faury. Sous la pression d'éventuelles sanctions américaines et des ONG, les banques appliquent désormais des règles de conformité (compliance) strictes pour les entreprises de défense considérées comme des entreprises à risque pour un financement, de plus en plus difficile à trouver pour certaines ETI, PME et startups de la filière, dont certaines se voient même refuser d'ouvrir un compte bancaire. Un constat que faisait le président du Comité Défense du Conseil des Industries de Défense Françaises (CIDEF) et PDG de MBDA, Eric Béranger, au Paris Air Forum. La Tribune du 6 janvier

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  October 3, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  Mattis says US-France in talks about loosening export limits on cruise missile

  By: Pierre Tran PARIS – U.S. defense officials are in detailed talks with French counterparts on a request for the sale of American components built into French cruise missiles, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said. Asked by a French journalist about Washington blocking the sale of the Scalp long-range weapon to Egypt and Qatar, Mattis said American and French staff were meeting on that very issue even as a press conference was being held. “We discussed this,” he said. “We also have our staffs meeting. We have an invitation out to France to answer two final questions. The meetings are going on as we speak.” Mattis, on his first visit to Paris as defense secretary, was speaking at a joint press conference with his French counterpart, Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly, held at Brienne House. The two issues to be resolved target “certain technologies” that the United States only shares with its closest allies, including France, and whether that technology can be further transferred, and how France can protect that technology, he said. “Right now we don't have a final answer but it is all going in the right direction,” he said. “And it was a very fruitful discussion today. Our staffs are working this forward right now.” The conundrum stems from the French sale to Egypt and Qatar of Scalp cruise missiles to arm Dassault Rafale fighter jets. The weapons include U.S. parts, leading Washington to evoke the International Traffic in Arms Regulations regime. Parly, meanwhile, thanked Mattis, for help in gaining U.S. authorization for arming French Reaper drones, cleared for fitting by the end of the year. U.S. President Donald Trump plans to come to Paris to mark the Nov. 11 Armistice Day, she said. That date is highly significant for France, marking the end of World War I, in which millions of troops died in the trenches. Mattis said he was not concerned about a drive by France and Germany to build a stronger European defense, as there were some issues which were “of interest only to Europeans.” As long as the European drive would not duplicate NATO or compete for alliance forces, “we see this in a positive direction,” he said. Mattis earlier met French President Emmanuel Macron and would go on to Brussels for a NATO ministerial meeting. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/10/02/mattis-offers-easing-of-us-export-limits-on-french-cruise-missile