COMPANY WINS AIRBUS DEAL.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY - Meggitt Safety Systems Inc. said Tuesday that it had won a multimillion-dollar contract from Airbus to supply fire-detection systems on what will be the world's first super-jumbo passenger jet.

Airbus, the European consortium that's the chief rival of Boeing Co., plans to build more than 700 of the huge aircraft, so Simi Valley-based Meggitt's deal could last until 2021.

Each aircraft will have 50 of the systems, which can detect overheating and fires.

The contract's value was not announced, but it will total into the millions of dollars.

``It's a huge chunk of change,'' said Russell Johnson, Meggitt's marketing director.

The company, which has 240 employees, is a unit of the British aerospace firm Meggitt PLC, and its products are found on all types of Airbus aircraft.

Airbus is gambling that bigger is better when it comes to the future of air travel.

The Airbus A380 superjet will have three decks, carry 555 passengers and have a range of 8,000 miles.

The plane is expected to enter service in 2006, but Meggitt will probably start shipping units later next year, Johnson said.

Airbus officials could not be reached for comment.

Meggitt is understandably happy to snare the deal.

``When other people are knocking on the door, it's nice to keep out the competition, so it was a good win for us,'' Johnson said.

The equipment can identify which part of an airliner's system triggered the alarm, which will make maintenance much easier, he said.

Safety System's roots date back to the 1960s and the John E. Lindbert Co. of Berkeley, which began making fire and overheating detectors.

The company's breakthrough came in 1963, when its detection system was selected for use on the Boeing 727. The company was eventually renamed Safety Systems and became a unit of Whittaker Corp.

The company moved from Concord to Simi Valley in 1997, and it was acquired by Meggitt in 1999.