Sikorsky, Lockheed Teaming Up
Successful Bid for Presidential Helicopter Contract Would Mark Rebound for United Technologies Unit
By PETER SANDERS
STRATFORD, Conn.—Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp., head-to-head competitors five years ago in the previous contest to build presidential helicopters, are expected to announce Monday that they are teaming up to bid on a new contract for a fleet of Marine One helicopters, according to two people familiar with the details.
Sikorsky, a United Technologies Corp. unit that had built the presidential helicopter since 1957, was handed a stunning defeat in 2005 when the contract was awarded to a European rival, AgustaWestland, which had teamed up with Lockheed on a bid. Around that time, Sikorsky also faced a debilitating strike and erosion of its market share.
But the Navy canceled that Marine One contract last June after repeated delays and cost overruns. If Sikorsky wins the new presidential-helicopter contract, it would cement the company's resurgence after a long rebuilding process.
It isn't known at this time what other companies are preparing to submit a bid. Other bidders could include Boeing Co., Textron Inc.'s Bell Helicopters and Finmeccanica SpA's AgustaWestland. It is likely to be at least a year before the Pentagon names the winning bidder.
A Lockheed official declined to comment ahead of Monday's expected announcement. Sikorsky would build the helicopter and Lockheed would provide the vast array of specialized systems within each craft.
"The opportunity to win that business is something that excites every employee at this company," Jeffrey Pino, Sikorsky's president, said during a recent interview. "It's a real source of pride among all the workers, and people here talk about it all the time."
For Mr. Pino, restoring pride among Sikorsky's work force has been a priority since he took the top job in March 2006.
"Four years ago, we were in fourth place in the industry and we had a work force that didn't get along well with management," he said.
Mr. Pino has since healed fractured relations with unions and positioned the company to take advantage of a Pentagon contract to build Black Hawk helicopters needed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Sikorsky's helicopter business now ranks second, just behind the Eurocopter unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co.
A former Army helicopter pilot and executive at Bell Helicopters, Mr. Pino has seen Sikorsky's revenue spike to $6.3 billion last year from $2.8 billion in 2005. Sikorsky won the five-year, $8.3 billion contract to build a total of 537 Black Hawk and Navy Seahawk helicopters in December 2007.
When Mr. Pino took over, about 3,000 Sikorsky factory workers in Connecticut were in the midst of a six-week strike that crippled the company's production line. Once the walkout ended in April 2006, he set out to regain the workers' trust.
While touring the company's Stratford, Conn., factory shortly after the strike ended, Mr. Pino said, he noticed that many of the workers were wearing motorcycle apparel. An avid rider, he suggested a company motorcycle ride. A few weeks later, he led a motorcycle procession stretching more than a mile through various Connecticut towns.
Mr. Pino said he has sought to include workers' families in events at Sikorsky factories and keep them informed of industry and corporate happenings.
Harvey Jackson, president of Teamsters Local 1150, which represents the company's union workers, said Mr. Pino has made "a gallant and decent effort" to make sure that the improved employee-managementrelations stay intact.
The helicopter business is fragmented. Multiple global companies compete to build two-person trainers, sleek executive craft, workhorse choppers for law enforcement and medical transport, and helicopters for military use.
Sikorsky has long aimed to provide helicopters for the heavy-lift military sector, as well as large helos used in industries such as offshore oil drilling. Its rivals include AgustaWestland, Bell and Eurocopter.
Sikorsky churns out roughly 17 Hawk-family helicopters a month from factories in Connecticut, New York and Florida. As the Obama administration presses the war in Afghanistan, helicopters are the linchpin in the strategy to move troops and materiel around the country.
To clear more space for military production in the U.S., Sikorsky has moved almost all final assembly of its civilian line of large helicopters from its Stratford headquarters to a factory in Pennsylvania. The company plans to open a final-assembly plant in Poland soon to produce for European militaries.
The company has been a bright spot during the recession for UTC, which is based in Hartford, Conn. Sikorsky has added jobs in its home state as UTC's engine-maker Pratt & Whitney and aircraft-parts supplier Hamilton Sundstrand have shuttered factories and laid off workers. Since 2006, Sikorsky has added more than 1,900 jobs at its Connecticut operations alone.
Sikorsky has added about 5,600 jobs world-wide since 2006. The company's global work force now numbers approximately 17,000 employees.
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