CT Delegation Works Together To Combat Comanche Job Loss
WASHINGTON – In an effort to stem the loss of jobs following the Army’s cancellation of the Comanche helicopter program, Connecticut ‘s Congress members said Thursday they would push the government to build its new fleet of presidential helicopters at the Sikorsky Aircraft plant in Stratford .
The lawmakers met behind closed doors with George David, chief executive officer of United Technologies Corp., which owns Sikorsky, to discuss the fallout from the loss of the $39 billion Comanche program.
“UTC remains the largest private-sector employer in the state of Connecticut , and we want to protect those jobs and see them grow,” said Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Democratic member of the Armed Services Committee. “The termination of the Comanche program is a crisis for us now. We have to answer some very critical questions.”
David said 700 workers, mostly salaried employees in Bridgeport and Stratford , face layoffs as a direct result of the Army’s decision to halt production of Comanches. The Comanche program was considered key to Sikorsky’s military future.
“This was a heartbreaking thing,” said Rep. Chris Shays, R-4 th dist. Sikorsky has “been working on this for so long, and saw 10 years of really wonderful employment.”
The lawmakers said they hope Sikorsky could save at least some of the jobs by winning the $1.6 billion initial contract to build the next fleet of presidential helicopters, called Marine One.
But Sikorsky faces intense competition from the European helicopter consortium Agusta Westland and its American partner, Lockheed Martin Corp.
“By fighting as hard as we can alongside the company for the presidential helicopter, we hope to see as many of those 700 employees on the presidential helicopter program as possible,” Lieberman said.
“We’ve been very strong as a delegation on that matter,” agreed Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3 rd Dist.. “We are asking Sikorsky not to lay off workers until we know what is happening with the Marine One contract. We are fighting very hard for the residual of the Comanche money.”
Six of Connecticut ‘s seven Congress members attended the meeting with David. Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd was unable to attend because he was giving a speech on the floor of the Senate prior to a vote on an amendment he sponsored on exporting jobs overseas.
Lawmakers also hope the Army will increase its order from Sikorsky for Black Hawk helicopters.
“We all agree that we have a goal here, with regard to the Comanche,” Lieberman said. “The goal is that when it’s all over, that there’s not a single job lost at Sikorsky. And how do we do that? Marine One, increase the Black Hawk and the transition that we work out for Comanche.
“That’s our goal,” he said. “Not a single job lost.”
