Future of Aerospace in Oklahoma Looking Up Despite Economy, Bird Tells Tulsa Group

During a panel discussion at the Tulsa Metro Chamber's Economic Outlook Conference Dec. 3, Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission Director Victor Bird provided attendees with a current picture of the state's aerospace and defense industry along with a forecast for its future.

Bird, who grew up in Tulsa and graduated from the University of Tulsa, told the crowd of nearly 300 that Oklahoma is one of seven centers in the world for the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of aircraft and that the industry is weathering the current economic storm. He noted that Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City and the American Airlines Engineering and Maintenance Center in Tulsa, the largest military and commercial aircraft repair facilities in the world, respectively, have helped minimize the negative impact of the recession in Oklahoma.

"Why is the state's aerospace and defense industry doing so well right now?" Bird asked. "Repairing aircraft is what we do well. We don't have a whole lot of airframe manufacturing going on in Tulsa or elsewhere in the state like our neighbors do in Wichita, Kansas, where 12,000 aerospace workers have been laid off this year and where they are worried about becoming the next Detroit."

Bird added that there have been some layoffs in Oklahoma as well, but any negative impact from the current recession has been offset by the diversity of our state's MRO efforts, namely within the commercial, military, general aviation and business aviation sectors. He pointed to work being performed at American Airlines, Spirit AeroSystems, FlightSafety International and NORDAM, and the fact that Tinker is hiring an additional 1,200 employees, as evidence that the outlook is bright for Oklahoma's aerospace and defense industry.

"It's because of what we have here in Oklahoma and what we do that will get us through this downturn, but we have to be smart and capitalize on our strengths," warned Bird.