Shorts will play pivotal role in new aircraft construction

Belfast aerospace company Shorts has welcomed the announcement at the Farnborough airshow that its Canadian parent Bombardier is launching a new 90-seater regional jet aircraft.

The CRJ 900 will be part-built in Belfast, with Shorts carrying out the work on the main fuselage and engine nacelles (covers).

"This is very good news for the local workforce," said Bombardier executive vice-president of operations Mr Ken Brundle. "And good news too for the suppliers. Around 400 of the 1,200 new jobs we announced earlier in the year will be devoted to this project, which we estimate will also result in the creation of another 100 jobs among the company's suppliers."

Bombardier already has 34 firm orders and 28 options for the new aircraft, which completes the CRJ series.

"The decision to build the CRJ 900 is the result of very careful study of the market and close negotiations with our customers. We're absolutely thrilled that it's got the go-ahead and very pleased that our Belfast operation will play such a major part in its construction," said Mr Brundle.

At the weekend Bombardier also confirmed an order for 104 aircraft placed by the carriers Comair and Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA), subsidiaries of Delta Air Lines. The order, which is for the smaller CRJ 100, 200, and 700 Series regional jets, is worth more than $2 billion. The agreement includes options on another 396 CRJ aircraft. Comair of Cincinnatti, Ohio, and Atlantic Southeast Airlines of Atlanta, Georgia, will take delivery of the aircraft between December this year and November 2004.

A spokesman for Shorts said the order would result in a massive increase in the rate of production, from 100 aircraft sets this year, to 155 in 2001. The CRJ's success has led to the steady expansion of the Northern Ireland operation. Two months ago, the company announced it was investing £70 million in its Belfast plant, and creating 1,200 jobs.

Some 250 jobs are also likely to be created in smaller firms across Northern Ireland, most at the Shorts subsidiary Maydown Precision Engineering in Derry.

At the time of the announcement, senior executives from Bombardier in Canada described the investment as a "major endorsement" of the quality and competitiveness of its Northern Ireland operation, in which it has invested more than £900 million over the last nine years.

Recruitment is already under way and will take employment at Shorts to 7,200 - its highest level since the war. Bombardier is also transferring some work on its highly successful business jets - Global Express and Challenger - to Belfast.

The regional jet market is the fastest growing and one of the most lucrative sectors of the aviation business and the Bombardier CRJ series is the market leader. More than 3,000 people are employed making fuselages, wing parts and engine nacelles for regional jets at Shorts's east Belfast plant. Since the CRJ series in 1992 the company has taken nearly 850 firm orders with options for around 700. Bombardier is already planning to increase output next year from 9.5 to 12.5 aircraft a month to cope with the increased demand.

The latest order confirms Bombardier as one of the success stories of the Northern Ireland economy. In 1988, its last year under state ownership, the company lost more than £47 million.

Around half the 6,300 workforce at Shorts are employed directly on work for Bombardier. As well as being the main European supplier for the aircraft manufacturer Boeing, Shorts also does work for Lockheed Martin and constructs engine nacelles for Rolls-Royce, Pratt and Witney and General Electric.

But it is the growing market for regional jets that has contributed most to Shorts recent successes. They have attracted a series of buyers both in the US and Europe by making previously unprofitable shorthaul routes viable. It also means that airlines can avoid congested (and expensive) major airports, and make greater use of regional hubs. Bombardier has also done well from its sales of business jets. The Challenger is one of the best-selling business jets in the history of corporate aviation. More than 500 are already in service around the world. The engine nacelles are manufactured in Belfast, and additional work on the plane is being moved to Northern Ireland as part of the latest round of investment. Dr Paul Madden, chairman of the Northern Ireland Aerospace Consortium, which represents the aerospace industry in the region, said the work on the new CRJ 900 aircraft, in addition to the orders from Comair and ASA, were likely to have a significant knock-on effect for other companies in the region.

But it has not been all good news for the company in recent weeks. Nearly 5,000 workers went on strike earlier this month in a dispute over pay, bringing production to a standstill. Five of the six unions at the company have called regular Friday strikes, and an overtime ban has been introduced. The company's "final" four-year offer of a 3 per cent a year increase with a review in years three and four if inflation exceeds expectations, has been turned down. Workers are unhappy with the length of the deal and want a two-year agreement, claiming the review clause is not binding. Shorts has warned the strikers they could be jeopardising their jobs, and if the strike caused delays in deliveries, work could go elsewhere.