Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing

Related Profiles of Professionals

• Madhulika Guhathakurta, NASA
• Mark Tritch, ITT Aerospace

Industry Overview
The aerospace industry comprises companies producing aircraft, guided missiles, space vehicles, aircraft engines, propulsion units, and related parts. Aircraft overhaul, rebuilding, and conversion also are included.
Firms producing transport aircraft make up the largest segment of the civil (nonmilitary) aircraft portion of the industry. Civil transport aircraft are produced for air transportation businesses such as airlines and cargo transportation companies. These aircraft range from small turboprops to wide-body jets and are used to move people and goods all over the world. Another segment of civil aircraft is general aviation aircraft. General aviation aircraft range from the small two-seaters designed for leisure use to corporate jets designed for business transport. Civil helicopters, which make up one of the smallest segments of civil aircraft, are commonly used by police departments, emergency medical services, and businesses such as oil and mining companies that need to transport people to remote worksites.

Aircraft engine manufacturers, not the aircraft manufacturers, produce the engines used in civil and military aircraft. These manufacturers design and build engines according to the aircraft design and performance specifications of the aircraft manufacturers. Aircraft manufacturers may use engines designed by different companies on the same type of aircraft.

Military aircraft and helicopters are purchased by governments to meet national defense needs, such as delivering weapons to military targets and transporting troops and equipment around the globe. Some of these aircraft are specifically designed to deliver or guide a powerful array of ordnance to military targets with tremendous maneuverability and low detectability. Other aircraft, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, are produced to gather defense intelligence such as radio signals or to monitor movement on the ground.

Firms producing guided missiles and missile propulsion units sell primarily to military and government organizations. Although missiles are viewed predominantly as offensive weapons, improved guidance systems have led to their increased use as defensive systems. This part of the industry also produces space vehicles and the rockets for launching them into space. Consumers of spacecraft include the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), telecommunications companies, television networks, and news organizations. Firms producing space satellites are discussed with the computer and electronic product manufacturing industry in this publication because satellites are primarily electronic products.

In 2004, about 2,800 establishments made up the aerospace industry. In the aerospace parts industry, most establishments were subcontractors that manufacture parts and employ fewer than 100 workers. Nevertheless, 63 percent of the jobs in aerospace manufacturing were in large establishments that employed 1,000 or more workers.

Working Environment 
The average aerospace products and parts production employee worked 42.6 hours a week in 2004, compared with 40.8 hours a week for all manufacturing workers and 33.7 hours a week for workers in all industries. Working conditions in aerospace manufacturing facilities vary. Many new plants, in contrast to older facilities, are spacious, well lit, and modern. Specific work environments usually depend on occupation and the age of the production line. Engineers, scientists, and technicians frequently work in office settings or laboratories, although production engineers may spend much of their time with production workers on the factory floor.

Employment
The Federal Government traditionally has been the aerospace industry's biggest customer. The vast majority of Government contracts to purchase aerospace equipment are awarded by DOD. NASA also is a major purchaser of the industry's products and services, mainly for space vehicles and launch services.
The aerospace industry is dominated by a few large firms that contract to produce aircraft with Government and private businesses, usually airline and cargo transportation companies. These large firms, in turn, subcontract with smaller firms to produce specific systems and parts for their vehicles. Government purchases are largely related to defense. Typically, DOD announces its need for military aircraft or missile systems, specifying a multitude of requirements. Large firms specializing in defense products subsequently submit bids, detailing proposed technical solutions and designs, along with cost estimates, hoping to win the contract. Firms also may research and develop materials, electronics, and components relating to their bid, often at their own expense, to improve their chances of winning the contract. Following a negotiation phase, a manufacturer is selected and a prototype is developed and built, then tested and evaluated. If approved by DOD, the craft or system enters production. This process usually takes many years.

Commercial airlines and private businesses typically identify their needs for a particular model of new aircraft based on a number of factors, including the routes they fly. After specifying requirements such as range, size, cargo capacity, type of engine, and seating arrangements, the airlines invite manufacturers of civil aircraft and aircraft engines to submit bids. Selection ultimately is based on a manufacturer's ability to deliver reliable aircraft that best fit the purchaser's stated market needs at the lowest cost and at favorable financing terms.
The way in which commercial and military aircraft are designed, developed, and produced continues to undergo significant change in response to the need to cut costs and deliver products faster. Firms producing commercial aircraft have reduced development time drastically through computer-aided design (CAD), which allows firms to design and test an entire aircraft, including the individual parts, by computer; the drawings of these parts can be sent electronically to subcontractors who use them to program their machinery. Increasingly, firms bring together teams composed of customers, engineers, and production workers to pool ideas and make decisions concerning the aircraft at every phase of product development. Additionally, the military has changed its design philosophy, using commercially available, off-the-shelf technology when appropriate, rather than developing new customized components.

Aerospace manufacturing provided 444,000 wage and salary jobs in 2004. The largest numbers of aerospace jobs were in Washington and California, although many also were located in Kansas, Texas, Connecticut, and Arizona.

Degree Paths into this Industry
Professionals and technicians develop new designs and make improvements to existing designs. Aerospace engineers are integral members of the teams that research, design, test, and produce aerospace vehicles. Some specialize in areas such as structural design, guidance, navigation and control, and instrumentation and communication. Electrical and electronics, industrial, and mechanical engineers also contribute to the research for and development and production of aerospace products. For example, mechanical engineers help design mechanical components and develop the specific tools and machines needed to produce aircraft, missile, and space vehicle parts, or they may design jet and rocket engines. Engineering technicians assist engineers, both in the research and development laboratory and on the manufacturing floor. They may help build prototype versions of newly designed products, run tests and experiments, and perform a variety of other technical tasks. One of the earliest users of computer-aided design, the aerospace industry continues to use the latest computer technology. Computer scientists and systems analysts, database administrators, computer software engineers, computer programmers, computer support specialists; and network and computer systems administrators are responsible for the design, testing, evaluation, and setup of computer systems that are used throughout the industry for design and manufacturing purposes.

Management, business, and financial occupations accounted for 18 percent of industry employment in 2004. Many advance to these jobs from professional occupations. Many managers in the aerospace industry have a technical or engineering background and supervise teams of engineers in activities such as testing and research and development. Industrial production managers oversee all workers and lower level managers in a factory. They also coordinate all activities related to production. In addition to technical and production managers, financial managers; purchasing managers, buyers, and purchasing agents; cost estimators; and accountants and auditors are needed to negotiate with customers and subcontractors and to track costs.

Industry Forecast
Wage and salary employment in the aerospace product and parts manufacturing industry is expected to grow by 8 percent over the 2004-14 period, slower than the 14-percent growth projected for all industries combined. Employment in the aerospace industry has declined in recent years as a result of a drastic reduction in commercial transport aircraft orders, but a modest increase in orders is expected over the projection period. The decline in orders was caused by the reduction in air travel that resulted from the terrorist attacks on the United States and severe financial problems that many of the Nation's airlines have experienced. However, an increase in air traffic and the improving financial health of the Nation's airlines are beginning to reverse the trend.
The outlook for the military aircraft and missiles portion of the industry is better. Concern for the Nation's security has increased the need for military aircraft and military aerospace equipment. Although new employment opportunities in the defense-related sector of the aerospace industry may not reach levels previously attained during the Cold War, employment in this sector is expected to rise.

Because of past reductions in defense expenditures and competition in the commercial aircraft sector, there have been and may continue to be mergers in the industry, resulting in layoffs. Even though the number of large firms performing final assembly of aircraft has been reduced, hundreds of smaller manufacturers and subcontractors will remain in this industry.

In addition to some growth in employment opportunities for professional workers in the industry, there should be job openings arising from replacement needs, especially for aerospace engineers. Many engineers who entered the industry in the 1960s are approaching retirement. Among those in the aerospace manufacturing industry, professionals typically enjoy more job stability than do other workers. During slowdowns in production, companies prefer to keep technical teams intact to continue research and development activities, in anticipation of new business. Production workers, on the other hand, are particularly vulnerable to layoffs during downturns in the economy, when aircraft orders decline.

Related Degree Fields

• Aerospace Engineering
• Computing
• Engineering
• Engineering Technology
• Mathematics
• Science

Professional Associations

• Aerospace Industries Association
• American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Federal Aviation Administration

Note: Some resources in this section are provided by the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.