WELDON: BOEING HELICOPTER CONTRACT IS BIG GAIN FOR DELCO AND REGION
WASHINGTON,
Nov 9 -
The Air Force announced late Thursday that the Boeing Helicopter facility in Ridley Park, Pa. will be awarded a substantial multi-billion dollar contract to manufacture the Air Force’s next generation of combat search and rescue helicopters, dubbed CSAR-X. The Air Force is expected to procure 141 of Boeing’s HH-47 Chinook helicopter by 2012 to replace its aging fleet of 105 HH-60G pave Hawk Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) aircraft.
Listed as the Air Force’s No. 2 acquisition priority, the CSAR-X contract – valued at $13 billion in purchase and development costs as well as an estimated $20 billion in expected lifetime support and operation expenses – will mean hundreds of jobs for the Boeing plant and the surrounding region.
“This is an enormous contract that will yield hundreds of new jobs for Delaware County and the surrounding region,” said Congressman Curt Weldon, who is vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and chairman of the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee that oversees the Air Force’s CSAR program. “The workers, the unions and management at Boeing's Ridley Plant have succeeded in getting the V-22 Osprey off of the ground and into full rate production. The CSAR-X program is just another measure of their talents and abilities in creating superior aircraft for our nation’s warfighter.”
John DeFrancesco, president of Local 1069 (UAW), Boeing’s largest union representing many employees at the Ridley plant, thanked Congressman Weldon for his support. “We appreciate his efforts and support of the employees at Boeing. He has always been there for us,” DeFrancesco said. “His support of our work has certainly made the CSAR-X program attainable for Boeing."
