MORE WORK AT PLANT 42 AEROSPACE JOBS INCREASING IN PALMDALE.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Employment at Air Force Plant 42 grew by 140 workers during 2004's first six months, a sign that officials said indicates steady growth in the aerospace industry.

There were 6,701 workers for the six months ending June 30, up from the 6,561 at the beginning of the year. Over the past two years, employment is up by 379 people.

``I see Plant 42 as a cost-effective place to do business for aerospace,'' said Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford. ``It's a very good sign for us that Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman both are doing great with employment numbers.''

The estimated annual payroll at Plant 42 was also up, climbing by $23 million to $458 million, according to statistics released by the Air Force.

Northrop Grumman, which began the year with about 1,200 workers in Palmdale, expects to add 200 people to its work force by January and could gain as many as 1,000 over the next eight years.

Northrop Grumman's employment increase is being driven by its work assembling the center fuselage section of the F-35 joint strike fighter, on which work began this spring. The fuselage sections will be shipped to Fort Worth, Texas, where Lockheed Martin, the program's prime contractor, will conduct final assembly.

Northrop Grumman is working on four other programs in Palmdale in addition to the F-35. That work includes performing modifications to the B-2 bomber fleet, assembling the Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, assembling a Navy aerial target drone, and assembling two X-47B experimental aircraft that will be used to develop technologies for future unmanned fighters.

The largest employer counted in the job statistics is Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., which employs 4,200 workers in Palmdale. That number is up roughly 100 workers from last year.

Although Lockheed Martin recently lost a competition to Boeing to develop a new maritime patrol aircraft for the Navy, the company is expecting slight to moderate job growth over the year, officials said.

Employment at Plant 42 stood at 7,375 workers in 2000, just before the region's aerospace industry took a hit in the form of the collapse of SR Technics America, a civilian aircraft modification company.

SR Technics America had expanded its work force to about 600 employees but then quickly hit hard times, through a combination of the financial woes of its major backer and the airline downturn after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com