Southland's Aerospace Industry Continues to Decline: Report

Echoing an overall decline in Southern California, employment in the aerospace industry dropped in Los Angeles County over the past decade, but has managed the cut its losses slightly thanks to guided-missile and space-vehicle manufacturing, according to a report released Tuesday.

According to the study by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. and its counterpart in San Diego, Los Angeles County lost 12,540 aerospace jobs between 2004 and 2014, a drop of 21.2 percent. The dip came in spite of the county adding 7,130 jobs for guided missiles and space vehicles, a jump of 64 percent.

Nearly one-fourth of national employment for guided-missile and space- vehicle manufacturing is in Southern California, according to the report.

Orange County saw a 26.8 percent drop in aerospace jobs from 2004-14, losing 5,610 jobs -- all of them "instrumentation" jobs.

San Diego County managed to buck the trend, with aerospace employment growing by two-thirds.

Overall, however, there was a 16.4 percent decline in employment in the aerospace industry throughout Southern California, thanks to fewer large defense contracts, according to the report.

Among other things, the study found that 85,500 people in Southern California were employed in aerospace in 2014 and that, when adding in the supply chain and other multipliers, the industry supported nearly 246,000 jobs in the region.

"We all know that our region has unmatched talent, a deep ecosystem of aerospace suppliers, specialized service providers, and IP, and now this report provides numbers and data to back that up," said David Blanco, chairman of the SoCal Aerospace Council, part of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. that promotes the industry.

The report's authors said the recent award of a contract to Northrop Grumman to develop a long-range strike bomber should further increase aerospace activity in Southern California. Start-ups like SpaceX, Orbital ATK and Virgin Galactic are also fueling the business.

According to the study, the industry should experience slow growth over the next five years, adding 2,250 jobs and replacing an additional 3,400 employees who retire or move elsewhere.

Most of the openings will be found in occupations related to production, such as inspectors, assemblers, machinists and technicians, the report said. The next highest category for future jobs will be engineering.

--City News Service, photo courtesy of Boeing