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Johnson City, NY - Fresh off the heels of a successful fight in Congress to help place new orders of BAE Systems' C-17 military cargo aircraft and in the midst of an effort to help advance the company's hybrid bus initiative, Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) today visited with workers at the company's Johnson City headquarters to discuss the latest developments.
"The work that the employees at BAE do on a daily basis is outstanding and I am delighted the United States military will continue to benefit from the company's work on the C-17 military cargo aircraft and that people throughout New York and cities across North America will be riding more and more BAE-produced hybrid buses," Hinchey said. "BAE has contributed greatly to the Southern Tier's economy and I will continue to work tirelessly to help direct government contracts and other federal investments toward the Johnson City plant."
BAE is the largest avionics supplier for the C-17 aircraft, which has played an instrumental role in humanitarian aid for disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the massive tsunami in South Asia. With talk of a possible shutdown or slowdown in the production of C-17 aircraft, Hinchey and others in Congress recently helped lead a successful effort to produce a total of 22 new C-17 aircraft in Fiscal Year 2007, which is nearly twice as many than were originally planned for by the Bush administration. Securing the production of 22 new C-17 aircraft was a significant success for the 250 BAE employees who work on the C-17 project.
Coupled with recent prospective international sales, BAE excepts to continue this aircraft program into later 2009. Additionally, Congress has directed a new Comprehensive Mobility Requirements Study that is expected to identify additional airlift needs into the future, which bodes well for the future of the C-17 project. In addition to new aircraft, BAE expects to continue to support existing planes into the future by performing engineering upgrades and providing spare and repair parts and assemblies. The current fleet of C-17 aircraft is expected to last 30 years.
Hinchey also discussed his ongoing efforts to secure money for Broome County's effort to purchase and use hybrid buses from BAE. The congressman obtained House approval of $500,000 in the Fiscal Year 2007 budget for Broome County, but there are several legislative steps left before the funds become official. Hinchey has secured $3 million over the past three years for Broome County's hybrid bus project, with the buses coming from BAE. The congressman highlighted BAE's successful efforts to hundreds of its environmentally-friendly buses in North America, including more than 500 unites each to New York City and Toronto.
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