Boeing has announced that it will consolidate its Australian manufacturing operations at Fisherman’s Bend in Victoria, leading to the closing of its Bankstown operations in 2012, resulting in some redundancies.
The company says that the decision to close the Bankstown site was driven by the exit from loss-making third-party work and under-utilisation of both the Fishermans Bend and Bankstown sites. “Each facility is at about half capacity and it makes no business sense to carry duplicate overheads,” said Mark Ross, managing director of Boeing Aerostructures Australia.
As a result, approximately 350 jobs will be lost when the former Hawker de Havilland facility closes, although 300 staff will be offered new jobs at Fisherman’s Bend. Those staff unable to relocate will be offered redundancy packages, including job placement and counselling services.
“We very much regret the impact on our staff, but the reality is that we need to improve our capability by consolidating our footprint. In such a global and competitive business, we need a sharper focus to succeed,” said Ross.
Components currently produced at Bankstown, including 777 rudders, elevators and cove lip doors, 747-8 wing leading edges, 737 ailerons, C-130 flaps, Bombardier CH300 tail cones, and Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile fins will transition to Fishermans Bend over the next 30 months. Airbus A380 wingtip and A330 component manufacture work will remain at Bankstown until those contracts conclude.
Boeing acquired Hawker de Havilland from Tenix in 2000.
