Here is an interesting article in Business In Vancouver from a few days ago. It mentions Avcorp.
https://biv.com/article/2022/09/bc-aerospace-industry-comeback-gaining-altitude
Here is the excerpt that mentions Avcorp:
“Like everybody else, we are hiring,” said Amandeep Kaler, CEO of Avcorp Industries Inc. (TSX:AVP), which is located close to Asco’s manufacturing plant in Delta. “If we can find another 20 people, we’ll take them today. We’re all in.”
Avcorp also manufactures components for the F-35 fighters: The folding outboard wing assemblies for the F-35C variant of the fighters the U.S. Marine Corps uses on aircraft carriers. To date, it has delivered 94 sets of those seven-foot-long assemblies that compose the end of a wing, folding up to create more space when stored on an aircraft carrier. Avcorp is producing about 30 sets a year and is currently set to deliver 300 more.
Avcorp CEO Amandeep Kaler | Chung Chow, BIV Avcorp CEO Amandeep Kaler | Chung Chow, BIV
In addition to the F-35 program, Avcorp provides components and repair services for Boeing’s 737, 777 and 787 commercial aircraft.
The first vendors tapped for the F-35 program about a decade ago were all partner countries that were also ordering the same stealth fighters, including Australia, Canada, Italy, the U.K. and the U.S.
But Asco’s and Avcorp’s continued involvement in the program became uncertain when the federal Liberals promised to scrap plans to procure the stealth fighters when they formed government in 2015.
Earlier this year, Ottawa reversed that promise and announced it was ordering 88 of Lockheed Martin’s F-35A fighters.
Had Canada decided not to move forward with F-35 program, there would have been significant pressure on Lockheed Martin to award future contracts to other countries buying the stealth fighters. Final negotiations are still underway but are expected to close by year’s end.
While the deal for the F-35A jets doesn’t affect Avcorp’s manufacturing of the F-35C wing assemblies, Kaler said finalizing the deal will help future growth.
In the coming decades, he estimated that the F-35 program could ultimately be worth between $750 million and $1 billion for the company employing 480 workers in Canada, including 375 in B.C.
“The cost has come down significantly on the aircraft, and I think everybody’s on that pursuit, continuing to make sure that it’s an affordable aircraft,” said Kaler, who recently shepherded Avcorp’s deal to be acquired by French aerospace firm Latcore SA for about $41 million. “If the aircraft is not affordable, nobody’s going to buy it, and there’s no program.”
Russell said the dollar value of manufacturing the F-35 bulkheads – the fighter’s single largest part, of which Asco has produced 600 to date – is in the “multimillions” each year.
B.C. Innovation Minister Ravi Kahlon, the MLA representing Delta North, said he’s hoping for some progress between Ottawa and Lockheed Martin over the purchase of the fighters.
“There’s positive opportunities there,” he said, regarding the potential for more collaboration between the aerospace industry in B.C. and Washington state. “But again, we need to first get that [F-35] agreement in place.”
Echoing Kahlon, Mueller said B.C. is positioned well for growth owing to its proximity to Washington state, one of the world’s largest aerospace hubs.
He added that one of the big challenges ahead will be ensuring there’s enough labour to meet demand.
“We’re pretty optimistic as we’re coming out of the pandemic,” Mueller said. “We are seeing commercial traffic coming back, which is great, and British Columbia in particular is well positioned because a large part of the industry is the maintenance, repair and overhaul side, [which has recovered] a little bit quicker than the other sectors of the aerospace industry.”
torton@biv.com
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