AIRBUS JOBS TO LAND IN VALLEY? MOVE COULD BRING FISCAL SONIC BOOM.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer

European aircraft giant Airbus is considering expanding its supplier base in the San Fernando Valley, potentially generating several thousand jobs, the Daily News has learned.

``The magnitude of that is huge,'' said Bruce Ackerman, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley.

West Valley City Councilmen Greig Smith and Dennis P. Zine said they discussed the possible work influx several weeks ago during meetings in Washington, D.C., with Airbus executives. The councilmen were attending the annual National League of Cities meeting.

``It came out of the blue and it was a very pleasant surprise,'' Smith said of the Airbus interest in the city.

Company executives initiated the meeting and told Smith and Zine that they wanted a bigger presence in Los Angeles.

``These are good-paying, top-quality jobs ... on the blue-collar and white-collar side of this,'' Smith said.

City officials are planning a meeting in the Valley with representatives of the company and the local aerospace industry.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said he has been involved in the talks with Airbus officials to try to convince them to come to the Valley.

``Are you kidding? Of course, we want them,'' Villaraigosa said in an interview Friday. ``We are working as hard as we can to bring them here to create the kind of quality jobs we want to see in the city.''

As part of the inducements to the firm, the mayor said he talked with them about his plans to create a series of work force centers around the city.

``What we told them is that we can develop a work force training program around the jobs that are to be created so we can fill any jobs they have,'' Villaraigosa said. ``We have to be forward looking to make sure we have the work force that is capable of competing for the jobs that are out there.''

Airbus spokeswoman Kristi Tucker did not provide specifics about the company's plans but confirmed that the meeting did focus on economic development in the Valley.

``We already have a number of suppliers out there in the Los Angeles region. We find many good companies out there,'' she said.

About 100 area companies already work on Airbus aircraft, including some in the Valley. The company's next-generation jetliner, the A380, is currently in production and the first plane will be delivered to Singapore Airlines at the end of this year.

Airbus has 159 orders for the A380 from 16 airlines. And the company could end up playing a major role in developing a new tanker for the U.S. Air Force.

``They definitely want to invest in the city. We're obviously trying to attract them to the Valley. They are interested in a partnership,'' Zine said.

The Valley has a storied aerospace and defense sector history, helping put man on the moon and the International Space Station in orbit. More than 50 Valley suppliers worked on the space station project.

According to a study done in 2000, the Valley had the biggest concentration of aerospace firms - 149 - of any metropolitan area in the nation, said Robert L. Scott, chairman of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association.

``I think it's pretty exciting news,'' Scott said about the possible expansion. ``We still have a lot of aerospace infrastructure from the 1960s and 1970s. Obviously this is an opportunity to reinvigorate that market and tap the brain trust we have here.''

The way businesses are classified has changed since then but the Valley still has a big aerospace base - 81 companies, said Dan Blake, director of the Economic Research Center at California State University, Northridge.

Jack Kyser, chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., said the whole region could benefit from increased Airbus work.

Aerospace jobs have a big multiplier impact and it might induce competitor Boeing Co. to enlarge its local footprint. Both companies buy parts from some of the same suppliers.

``That would be huge economically,'' Kyser said.

Staff Writer Rick Orlov contributed to this report.

Gregory J. Wilcox, [phone]

greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com