Jobs Sydney: employment boost for airplane jobs

After the instability of recent years, jobs Sydney were boosted by aviation news. Here we summarise how this will impact employment.

Quickstep Contract
The Premier of New South Wales, Kristina Keneally, recently announced that the Perth manufacturer, Quickstep, had won the contract to supply components for Australian fighter planes.

These aircraft, specifically the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter defence project, represent the country’s next generation of fighter planes. To create the necessary parts, Quickstep will be relocating manufacturing to a site in Sydney – previously owned by Boeing.

Construction
Quickstep have allocated $15 million to build their new plant at the Bankstown site, a move that will provide welcome opportunities for the beleaguered construction industry. Once completed, the operation is expected to provide around 400 engineering jobs.

Statement
Premier Keneally stated the Quickstep contract would more than compensate for the loss of Boeing: "This contract is worth at least twenty years of work and what this means for western Sydney and here in Bankstown is Quickstep will grow its company and grow it exponentially here in New South Wales".

According to Quickstep, a crucial factor in the relocation decision was the ready availability of Boeing’s skilled workforce.

Chief Executive Philippe Odouard said: "The aerospace industry is not extremely widespread in Australia and certainly not in Perth. The access to the skilled labour that are doing composite parts today in Boeing in Bankstown and the fact that they're actually moving out is for us very important".