Parker Aerospace, the Irvine-based unit of Cleveland’s Parker Hannifin Corp., has won one of its biggest commercial contracts ever to make steering controls for Canada’s Bombardier Inc.
The contract should bring as much as $3.5 billion in the next decade to the company.
The contract calls for Parker to make its “fly by wire” steering controls for Bombardier’s new wide body jet,the CSeries,seating nearly 150 passengers.
Many in the industry consider the controls to be the future of passenger jets as the current pulleys and rods that move rudders and flaps are replaced with electronic signals.
The benefit of electronic steering controls is a safer and smoother ride, according to Glenn Zwicker, director of engineering for Parker’s control systems unit in Irvine.
Initially developed for the Pentagon’s F-22 and F-35 fighter planes, the controls were designed to be smarter and faster than human pilots.
“They keep pilots from doing unsafe maneuvers and adjust quickly to things like turbulence,” Zwicker said.
The CSeries jet is expected to go into service in 2013. German carrier Lufthansa AG said it is interested in 60 of the regional planes, with each carrying a price tag of nearly $47 million.
The new plane will compete with Boeing Co.’s 717 and the 318 and 319 models of Airbus SAS, part of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co.
Bombardier is crossing into new territory with the CSeries, going away from shorter-range jets to competing with the longer-distance planes.
Looking for Workers
Parker wants to add about 20 jobs for the work. The company already is struggling to fill about 130 positions for engineering and technical work.
“We’ve especially had a hard time filling jobs in Orange County,” spokeswoman Cheryl Flohr said.
Parker is the second largest aerospace and defense contractor operating in the county with 1,800 workers. Boeing is the biggest with 9,600.
Boeing and other aerospace companies in the county, such as Waltham, Mass.-based Raytheon Co., have had the same problem of not finding enough qualified people.
A dearth of qualified people and expensive real estate hurt recruiting efforts, according to Zwicker.
He said he has about 250 engineers and technicians in Irvine, 40 in Ogden, Utah, and 15 in Dublin, Ga.
“These are highly skilled jobs, they’re very difficult to (fill), and it’s especially hard to attract people to Irvine,” he said.
Some companies have had their workers split time between OC and other offices. Parker has two recently hired engineers that commute from Fort Worth, Texas, to its Irvine headquarters on a regular basis.
Falling home prices, while a burden to many, have begun to make things more appealing for recruiting, he said.
“I’d like to bring as many people as possible to Irvine,” Zwicker said.
Parker slowly has been expanding its local operation and hired 50 workers last year as it scored new contracts.
While most of the engineering work for the Bombardier contract will take place in Irvine, it’s unclear where the manufacturing will take place.
In Irvine, Parker uses its manufacturing site for military work, but would consider expanding it.
“Our Utah site is already full, one of the things being looked at is to bring the manufacturing to Irvine,” Flohr said.
The company’s outlook for contracts remains strong.
Parker competed with Germany’s Liebherr Group and New York-based Moog Inc. for the Bombardier contract, which will include making the controls for three other planes to be developed in the future.
In March, it won a $400 million contract to make the controls for Cessna Aircraft Co., part of Providence, R.I.-based Textron Inc., and also has contracts with Brazil’s Embraer-Empresa Brasileira de Aeron & #225;utica SA and Savannah, Ga.-based Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., part of General Dynamics Corp.
Another major contract this year was with Airbus for $2 billion to make fuel and hydraulic systems for its new A350 extra wide body passenger jet.
Parker also expects to benefit from a government contract for a mid-air fueling tanker as a supplier to both Boeing and Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp., which are competing for the contract.
Parker’s parts can be found on just about every major commercial jet in service, according to the company.
The unit does about $1.8 billion in sales per year and is one of eight divisions for parent company Parker Hannifin, which does more than $10 billion a year.
