AIRCRAFT JOBS' IMPACT NOT FELT IMMEDIATELY : X-33 TO KEEP WORKERS BUSY; B-2 FACES UNCERTAINTY.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

News about new aircraft programs and jobs at Lockheed Martin ``Skunk Works'' has come as welcome relief to the Antelope Valley, but overall aerospace employment is likely to be stagnant in coming months because of job losses at other programs.

The Skunk Works is gearing up for the X-33 spacecraft prototype and the joint strike fighter programs and transferring jobs from Ontario, but B-2 bomber production and testing is winding down - unless Congress says more bombers should be built.

``I think for a while we're going to be level for jobs,'' said Lancaster Mayor Frank Roberts, who also serves on a panel that advises Los Angeles County how to spend job-training funds. ``I think the upswing is two to five years away.''

Skunk Works officials say their Palmdale employment will rise from three major sources. First, in July, the company was selected to build a wedge-shaped craft called the X-33 that will test technologies for a future spacecraft. That program is expected to add 2,200 jobs in California, including about 700 to 800 in Palmdale.

The second source of increased employment will come from the relocation of the 1,000-employee Lockheed Martin Aircraft Services company from Ontario to Palmdale.

The third major factor was the announcement Nov. 16 that the Skunk Works will build two prototypes of a fighter being considered for use by the Air Force, Navy, Marines and British Royal Navy. The project will employ 900.

Roberts is hopeful the news from Lockheed Martin will stimulate interest in the area and generate more business.

``The climate right now has been better than it has been in five or six years,'' Roberts said.

Employment at Air Force Plant 42, including the Skunk Works plant, is likely to hover around 9,000 jobs. Gains at Lockheed Martin will be offset by job losses at other contractors, said Lt. Col. Pete Drinkwater, commander of Plant 42.

``Overall at Plant 42 it will be about a wash,'' Drinkwater said.

There are, however, a couple of big unknowns in the aerospace job picture. One is whether production of the B-2 stealth bomber will continue beyond the 21 aircraft already authorized by Congress.

Led by Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, whose district includes the Palmdale B-2 factory, Congress last year approved an additional $493 million that will be used for converting a test airplane, the first B-2 ever built, into an operational bomber.

Congress is likely to take up the B-2 question yet again in the coming months.

``I think we probably will launch such an effort,'' said Armando Azarloza, spokesman for McKeon. ``We're not sure how we will do that. I'm sure there will be some type of request for additional funding.''

Northrop Grumman has 2,800 workers in Palmdale building B-2s and an additional 500 working on the flight test program at Edwards Air Force Base. Production of the B-2 is expected to end in early 1998, and the flight test program is expected to wind down in July 1997.

If more B-2s are ordered, the work force will grow back to about 3,500 workers, Northrop Grumman officials said. If none are ordered, there will be only about 200 to 300 who will stay on in Palmdale to perform maintenance and modification work once production ends.

No plans have been announced about future flight test work at Edwards, but base officials believe there will be some type of follow-up work.

Another unknown is what will happen to Rockwell Corp.'s operations in Palmdale. Rockwell shareholders will meet Dec. 4 to decide whether to agree to Boeing Co.'s acquisition of the space and defense units, both of which have workers in Palmdale.

In the meantime, both Rockwell and Boeing have transition teams examining facilities and programs to determine the best uses of resources, said Boeing spokesman Dave Suffia.

``You won't see much immediate changes anywhere,'' Suffia said. ``The operations are very complementary.''

Rockwell's Space Systems Division, which is performing modifications on the orbiter Endeavour, has about 600 workers in Palmdale. The workers are waiting to hear from NASA whether an orbiter will be brought in to Palmdale for inspections and modifications.

Rockwell also has about 530 workers at Plant 42 and at Edwards Air Force Base working on the B-1B bomber, which is being converted from a nuclear weapons carrier into a bomber capable of using non-nuclear missiles and bombs. That work will last several years.

Edwards Air Force Base, the Antelope Valley's largest center of employment, has seen its employment numbers shrink from about 15,000 workers in 1990 to approximately 11,220 now.

But it appears the total number of jobs at Edwards will be stable, with job cutbacks in some areas balanced by new projects coming in.

``There's no reason to think there's going to be any significant change one way or the other,'' base spokesman Gary Hatch said.

On the downside, base officials announced in July 1995 plans to cut 1,800 jobs over a six-year period. Base officials hope to trim as many of those jobs through attrition - retirements, people quitting to pursue other jobs and so forth - as possible.

Jobs will also be lost when stealth bomber flight testing winds down in summer, though some jobs may be preserved by follow-up testing of new weapons, navigation gear and similar improvements to the bomber.

Helping to offset those job losses will be the start of flight testing of the F-22 advanced tactical fighter, a program that will employ about 750 people. The first of 12 test aircraft is expected to arrive at Edwards next fall.

Another boost will come from NASA's plans to consolidate its aircraft operations at its Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards. The consolidation is expected to add about 300 workers.