BERKELEY — Boeing’s decision to phase out production of the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet, a trademark of its ºüÀêÊÓƵ defense business, marks the start of a two-year recalibration for the company’s regional operations, and its suppliers.
The Thursday announcement that Boeing will stop new-build production after finishing delivery to the U.S. Navy in late 2025 was not altogether unexpected. The Pentagon has been phasing out purchases of Boeing’s legacy fighters as it focuses on a next-generation fighter jet.
“This is the first time we’ve gotten a definitive timeline,†said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute.
The plane has supported decades of jobs at Boeing, and at McDonnell Douglas before that, and at the companies’ network of suppliers. The plane graced the silver screen last year in the action movie sequel “Top Gun: Maverick.â€
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Boeing said the decision will allow it to devote more resources to next-generation military aircraft, and to ramping up production on other lines like the T-7A Red Hawk, a training craft, and the MQ-25 Stingray, a refueling drone. The company makes a small number of MQ-25 drones in ºüÀêÊÓƵ County, and plans to produce more at a new assembly line that is under construction in Mascoutah.
Boeing said it still plans to hire in ºüÀêÊÓƵ over the next five years. The company added 900 jobs in the region in 2022, many of them engineers, another signal of a shift toward future products.
Jeff Windau, an industrials analyst with Edward Jones, said the eventual end to F/A-18 production was a key reason Boeing needed to win other programs and expand. Around five years ago, the company went “pretty aggressively†after contracts for the T-7A trainer craft and MQ-25 refueling drone programs.
Around 1,500 employees work in Boeing’s F/A-18 program, the majority of them based in ºüÀêÊÓƵ. “These are highly skilled workers,†said Boeing spokesperson Deborah VanNierop. “Their skills are easily transferred to our other programs.â€
The company announced the plans years in advance to allow time to wind down supplies that have long lead times. Boeing will continue to do maintenance and upgrades on the F/A-18s and production could be extended into 2027 if Boeing receives more orders from the Indian Navy.
“This is going to have a significant impact on hundreds of companies that provide parts and components for the Super Hornet,†Thompson said.
Chuck Gerding, CEO of Dittmer-based Gerding Enterprises, said there’s been talk of the end of the F/A-18 program for years.
If production stops in 2025, it will be a challenge for his company, which employs 25 people and has been making parts for the F/A-18 since its inception more than 40 years ago. Though his company also makes parts for other aircraft, Boeing is its largest client and the F/A-18 has been a “huge part†of its livelihood.
He’s still holding out hope that something will change, to extend the program’s lifetime.
“They’re the best fighters in the world. I don’t know why the government keeps looking at this to downsize,†Gerding said. “We put out a good product.â€
“It’s one heck of a program, and I’d hate to see it go,†he said.
Aerospace suppliers will have to adapt, but most are not reliant on any single aircraft program, said Richard Aboulafia, managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory.
“Thankfully, the T-7 still has a long ramp ahead of it,†Aboulafia said. “That’s going to take up a lot of the employment base.â€
Boeing has about 15,800 employees in the ºüÀêÊÓƵ area in total, its second-largest workforce after Washington state. The ºüÀêÊÓƵ operations are mostly focused on defense products like the F-15, the T-7A and the MQ-25.
“We are planning for our future, and building fighter aircraft is in our DNA,†Steve Nordlund, senior site executive for Boeing ºüÀêÊÓƵ, said in a statement. “As we invest in and develop the next era of capability, we are applying the same innovation and expertise that made the F/A-18 a workhorse for the U.S. Navy and air forces around the world for nearly 40 years.â€