Rockwell Collins Cushions OC Blow With Van Pools
By CHRIS CZIBORR
When Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Rockwell Collins Inc. closed its Irvine facility three months back and shifted work to Pomona, local workers at first faced two choices, commute or move.
Out of the 200 Irvine workers, 64 have found another way: van pools. Pomona-based Rockwell Passenger Systems has cushioned the blow of the Irvine closure by leasing five vans for use by commuters. Workers take turns driving the vans, which carry 10 to 12 people each.
Rockwell Collins started the program last year, when the first wave of people moved from Irvine to Pomona. Workers pay about $65 a month for the service,less than what they would pay for gas, especially for drivers of gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles.
One worker who lives in Costa Mesa said he loves the van pool. He said he uses the time to read the newspaper, engage in small talk and talk on his wireless phone,safely.
The service is a small perk in what has been a tough year for Rockwell Collins. The maker of aviation electronics and other products has cut workers,including more than 200 at its former Irvine operation,as a result of Sept. 11, spokeswoman Kelly Holland said.
Rockwell Collins Passenger Systems now has 850 workers at the Pomona facility. It also has a Mexicali plant that employs 700 people.
Rockwell Collins, which had sales of $608 million in the March quarter, was spun off in 2001 from what’s now Milwaukee-based Rockwell Automation Inc. The company’s passenger systems unit makes airline cabin and in-flight entertainment systems.
Rockwell Collins has seen its shares surge in recent weeks, in part over speculation it could be an attractive takeover target. Analysts cite Hartford, Conn.-based United Technologies Corp. as a possible suitor in a bid to boost its electronics business. United Technologies made an unsuccessful bid for Honeywell Inc. last year.
Rockwell Collins says that van pooling has cut OC workers’ commute time because they use car pool lanes. Others have opted to drive themselves or carpool with co-workers on their own. No one has moved because of the shift in work to Pomona, the company’s Holland said.
The Pomona unit is the only Rockwell Collins operation in the U.S. that offers van pooling, Holland said.
Rockwell leases the vans from the Orange office of Richmond, Va.-based VPSI Inc.
VPSI Orange sales rep Del Birmingham said OC is a hot market for the service, though in most cases its for workers coming here to work.
“Orange County is one of our biggest destinations,” he said.
VPSI leases about 150 vans to companies that bring workers into the county, and about 130 vans that move workers to destinations both inside the county and elsewhere in the Southland.
The company leases vans to companies in the San Fernando Valley and other parts of Los Angeles County that vanpool OC workers.
