View Full Version : Another one bites the dust....
robin
17th Nov 2016, 19:34
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/17/gkn-to-close-yeovil-helicopter-site-putting-hundreds-of-jobs-at-risk
Lonewolf_50
17th Nov 2016, 19:43
Sincere question: are those skilled workers the kind of folks who might be needed to work on the various Apache(AH-64E) projects that will be based in the UK?
racedo
17th Nov 2016, 21:03
Bearing in mind Leonardo is on same site and intends to bring this in house they could advertise worldwide for people with the requisite skills or just recruit from the people being let go.
My guess is the latter so you get a redundancy cheque from GKN and a job from Leonardo at probably the same money............................. for quite a few I would suggest there is no downside to this.
NutLoose
17th Nov 2016, 21:50
It's the complete skillset you lose, once gone you simply cannot get that back and is indicative of the U.K. Aerospace as a whole, I am just surprised it hung on as long. The down side and bad thing is it undermines the UK's ability to defend itself, it's ok buying from the likes of the US, but you are then beholden to the contracts and the clauses that entails.
gr4techie
17th Nov 2016, 23:05
It's the complete skillset you lose, once gone you simply cannot get that back
I'd like to add... Engineering is not something that can be taught in a classroom over a few months. It takes years of experience to be competent and fully productive. Especially when it comes to fault finding and those awkward difficult to do tasks.
Even an organisation closer to home seems to struggle understanding the difference between suitably qualified and experienced personnel with years on type and an 18 year old fresh out of school.
pr00ne
18th Nov 2016, 01:24
Nutloose,
Er, What?
This is a Tier one company taking back in house an assembly operation that had only relatively recently been outsourced to a third party.
Hardly any kind of reflection on the UK Aerospace industry that remains in rude health as the second largest in the world by which ever one of a dozen comparatives you care to choose.
glad rag
18th Nov 2016, 02:28
Or a house of cards.
pr00ne
18th Nov 2016, 02:31
Still sick?
glad rag
18th Nov 2016, 02:34
Strawman, what you do best.
thunderbird7
18th Nov 2016, 07:48
Brexit strikes...
The new remainer meme - anything bad that happens is because of Brexit; anything good that happens is despite Brexit.
In the real world meanwhile, most things continue to happen irrespective of Brexit.
langleybaston
18th Nov 2016, 10:56
try reading "Kingdom of the Skies" before complacency sets in.
langleybaston
18th Nov 2016, 11:07
whoops!
Empire of the Clouds
close, mind you, close!
andrewn
18th Nov 2016, 12:44
Nutloose,
Er, What?
This is a Tier one company taking back in house an assembly operation that had only relatively recently been outsourced to a third party.
Hardly any kind of reflection on the UK Aerospace industry that remains in rude health as the second largest in the world by which ever one of a dozen comparatives you care to choose.
I love your rose tinted views on all matters defence and cant wait to hear more when BAES lays off half of its Warton workforce once Typhoon and Hawk work dries up, in not much more than 18 months time!
MReyn24050
18th Nov 2016, 13:36
As you say "Another one bites the dust..."
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c67/sabamel/20161118_140522_zpscixmzkst.jpg
Mil-26Man
18th Nov 2016, 13:58
The new remainer meme - anything bad that happens is because of Brexit; anything good that happens is despite Brexit.
As opposed to the brexiteer meme - anything good that happens is because of Brexit; anything bad that happens is despite Brexit....
dangermouse
18th Nov 2016, 14:55
This isn't news at all, the Grauniad overestimates the value of the work actually done by GKN at Yeovil, they have no design input on the 159, they bash metal into the right shape and supply it to the actual design company for completion and flight.
They used to make SAAB bits and nacelles at the same site, where did that work go....maybe indicative of the future for them
LH probably have excess capacity elsewhere due to the turndown in the civil market so why should a subcontractor expect to be able to keep supplying parts that can be internally sourced by the actual customer?
AW101 parts are made all over the world but are assembled here, this is a similar case. GKN have fulfilled their obligations to build the airframes needed to meet current production, there have been no new AW159 orders lately to make airframe for so what di they think they would be building?