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Sky's the only limit for local aerospace industry

By: Martin Cash

Posted: 04/19/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

The Canadian aerospace industry is celebrating 100 years of flight this year, and next month, the Western Aerospace Alliance will hold its conference in Winnipeg touting the theme Proud Past: Strong Future.

The calibre of senior executives scheduled to participate in the conference from Lieutenant General Angus Watt, chief of the Air Staff, Canadian Air Force to senior Lockheed Martin and Boeing Canada staffers is an indication that Manitoba's aerospace is truly a force to be reckoned with.

With about 5,000 employees, the 25-plus firms that make up the sector here generate about $1.6 billion in annual revenue, making Manitoba home to the third largest provincial aerospace sector after Quebec and Ontario.

There are four obvious major players in the group -- Boeing Canada Technology Ltd., Bristol Aerospace Ltd. (the flagship company of Magellan Aerospace Company), Aveos (formerly Air Canada Technical Services) and StandardAero.

The big four separate nicely into the sector's two main areas of operation - component manufacturing (Boeing and Bristol) and aircraft and aircraft engine repair and overhaul (Aveos and StandardAero). Each of the four operations is part of larger corporate entities, and none can be considered locally owned.

But all four of them have been in Winnipeg for a long time -- StandardAero will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2011 -- and many cite the excellent depth and training of the work force for that. It might also be said that each of the companies has been graced with top notch professional management that probably would not be the case if the parent companies did not value the contributions the Winnipeg operations were making to the corporation.

There are some who say the aerospace industry has succeeded to the extent it has in Manitoba and for the time it has because of the sophisticated human resources support system the aerospace industry enjoys here.

The Manitoba Aerospace Human Resources Co-ordinating Committee is an association of about 23 companies -- many of whom are suppliers to the four large companies -- that all have some connections to the aerospace manufacturing or aviation sectors which work at ensuring the sector's work force education and training needs are met.

Since 1992, the federal and provincial governments and participating companies have invested more than $40 million in aerospace training programs in the province with more than 600 courses completed and more than 6,000 people trained.

The depth of that human resource has sustained some very impressive operations over several decades of success. StandardAero is now the largest independent gas turbine maintenance, repair and overhaul firm in the world. Bristol Aerospace is the inventor and manufacturer of the wire strike protection system that is on most of the helicopters made in the world today. It is also the premier research satellite manufacturer in the country as well as being a diversified military and commercial parts maker. Boeing Canada in Winnipeg designed and supplies key parts for Boeing's new fuel efficient 787 Dreamliner.

Winnipeg is also home to the Composites Innovation Centre and has become a centre for composite manufacturing in western Canada, helping to bolster innovation in the field. For instance, Acsion Industries in Pinawa, uses electron beam technology for curing composites.

The region is also home to 17 Wing Winnipeg, the Canadian Forces Base comprised of three squadrons and six flight-related schools, some of which are based at Southport in Portage la Prairie. All together, 17 Wing employs more than 3,000 people and is the city's largest employer after the three levels of government.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 19, 2009 E3

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