Welcome news for the region’s helicopter jobs

Score one for the region’s helicopter industry.

Now the question is, can we go two-for two?

In a stunning announcement, Lockheed Martin Corp. Wednesday said they were reversing course and would not be closing their Sikorsky plant in Sadsbury, outside Coatesville, in Chester County.

Can local officials manage a similar outcome for hundreds of jobs tied to a key program at Boeing in Ridley Township that are in jeopardy?

The move involving the Sikorsky plant comes after local officials put on a full-court press, including an intervention by President Trump, who pressed officials at Lockheed, Sikorsky’s parent company, to reconsider.

The decision saves 465 jobs, at least for now.

There is no indication how long the plant, which manufactures the Marine One helicopters that transport the president, will remain open, but it seems the jobs are secure at least for a year.

Marillyn Hewson, chairman of Lockheed Martin Corp., parent company of Sikorsky, said the decision comes after she was asked by President Trump to take another look at the situation.

“At the request of President Trump, I took another look at our decision to close the Coatesville, Pa., facility and have decided to keep it open while we pursue additional work,” Hewson said in a statement.

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D6th Dist., talked directly to Hewson and Sikorsky boss Dan Schultz in the days after the stunning announcement that the plant would close its doors.

She urged them to reconsider and indicated she was disappointed that they had not worked with members of Congress to seek new business opportunities that could possibly keep the plant open.

“While I welcome the news, this decision is a temporary reprieve and our work is not done,” Houlahan stressed in a statement.

“I am concerned that Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky are playing politics with the livelihoods of people in our community who have worked hard to consistently deliver outstanding results.

“I am calling for a sustained commitment to this facility, not just a temporary extension driven by a time-bound political calculus. Today is a good first step, and I expect Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky to work with me and the Pa. delegation on concrete proposals for how to sustain work at this important facility. The talented workforce at this facility have consistently shown their dedication to deliver Marine One helicopters on-time and on-budget, and I will work tirelessly to support them.”

Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D5th Dist., has been engaged in a similar battle to save jobs at the Boeing plant in Ridley.

The fate of those jobs remains up in the air.

Scanlon has been leading the charge against a push by the Army to delay a huge upgrade program for the Chinook fleet, a program that supports hundreds of jobs at the Ridley facility.

Scanlon got support from the House Armed Services Committee, which rejected a request from the Army to delay a massive, multi-billion dollar project to upgrade the Chinook fleet of helicopters. Much of that work translates into hundreds of jobs at the Boeing plant. The Army has indicated it wants to delay the project, focusing instead on newer, more high-tech gadgets.

Scanlon fired off a letter to the House Armed Services and Defense Appropriations committees lobbying for the program, saying it could result in the loss of 1,000 jobs at the Delco facility, while also noting a $3.2 billion spike in costs should the program be scrapped.

The Appropriations subcommittee directed the Army to restore funding, and recently the House Armed Forces Committee ordered an additional $28 million for the Chinook Block II program.

The final decision remains up in the air as the requests make their way through the halls of Congress.

The Sikorsky decision is a life-saver for 465 jobs that either would have vanished or uprooted families, forcing workers to relocate.

We laud Houlahan for keeping her foot on the pedal in seeking a permanent solution, and we acknowledge the president’s move to stand behind the Chester County jobs.

Now we hope similar success can guarantee the jobs of 1,000 workers at the Boeing plant in Ridley Township.