Six Years Later, GE Aviation Employs Over 200 in Alabama

Dec. 8—Six years after announcing plans for its Limestone County plant and after various COVID-related slowdowns, GE Aviation has surpassed 200 employees, the number it needs to receive a financial incentive from the county.

Officials expect strong demand to push the company's employment numbers beyond the 300 they originally said they would employ.

The original announcement of GE Aviation's plans for a manufacturing complex at the southeast corner of Greenbrier Road and Interstate 565 near FedEx in Huntsville-annexed Limestone County came in 2015, and production began in late 2018.

Stephen French, the site leader, said the plant has reached a little over 200 employees. "We started back hiring on the salary ranks earlier this year, and then for our hourly population, we started back third quarter."

Projections for the next two years are to increase staffing to well over 300 employees, French said.

"We've got a great workforce here ... . That's one of the great things about this area," French said.

The $200 million GE Aviation complex produces silicon carbide (SiC) ceramic fiber and then turns it into ceramic matrix composite (CMC) tape. That tape is shipped to be turned into lightweight, heat-resistant parts for jet engines.

Bethany Shockney, CEO of the Limestone County Economic Development Association, said Limestone County should not have a problem filling the engineering jobs at the plant. "We have one of the largest per capita in the country of engineers in our area. We should be very rich with that kind of person."

Limestone County authorized a $100,000 incentive for GE Aviation. The company was to receive $50,000 after the first 200 employees were hired, and an additional $50,000 after 98 more were hired. Neither incentive has been paid, according to county records.

Shockney said, "The way the paperwork is normally written, is they have to make a request of the county when they meet those certain metrics that are required on their end."

According to Emily Ezzell, county accountant, "We haven't had a request for payment ... but that's not uncommon." According to the resolution in the Limestone County Commission meeting minutes from Dec. 7, 2015, there is not a time limit on the incentive.

Nick Hurm, of GE Aviation media relations, said the company plans to apply for the incentive sometime in 2022.

French said GE Aviation's Limestone plant is "a start-up facility" that was ramping up just as the pandemic began affecting air travel early in 2020. "With COVID, as you can imagine, many industries had a lot of impact and aviation took a hard hit."

"I'd say we were on pause there for a year or so. With airlines cutting back on flights, things were delayed," French said. Hiring was paused during that time as well, French said.

The airline industry worldwide experienced a $138 billion net loss in 2020 and continues to face losses this year and next, The Associated Press reported. The International Air Transport Association forecasts a net loss of $11.6 billion for airlines in 2022, and nearly $52 billion in losses this year.

That decline in travel dampened demand for commercial aircraft and components. But air travel is starting to come back, French said, and the passenger volume the day before Thanksgiving was close to where it was in 2019, pre-COVID.

"People are realizing it's very safe to get out there and fly, even with COVID, and so that's exciting," he said.

GE Aviation, according to French, powers both military and commercial aircrafts. French said they power two-thirds of commercial airplanes.

Shockney said GE adds to the dynamic of Limestone County employers.

"They're in the aerospace industry which is diversity," she said. "It's not only manufacturing jobs, but some really good, high-quality white collar jobs as well."

French said their products go into the most recent, technologically advanced engines.

"We make ceramic matrix composites, or CMCs, and the whole reason GE developed that technology was to allow us to design aircraft engines that have better fuel efficiencies and lower emissions."

CMCs are one-third the weight of metals and are able to withstand higher temperatures, French said. "We're essentially replacing traditional metal components in these engines with ceramics."

According to French, GE is the only company that does that in a jet engine. "Pretty groundbreaking and exciting technology to be a part of."

"As aircraft are returning to flight, they're buying our engines, because they have the best fuel efficiencies, they're the newest, and have the lowest emissions. So, we're actually seeing that ... pick back up and we're expecting to continue to see that over the next two years," French said.

GE announced last month it would divide itself into three public companies focused on aviation, health care and energy. GE's aviation unit, it's most profitable, will keep General Electric in the name, the AP reported.

GE Aviation is hiring for engineers, quality control, and hourly production roles. To apply go to www.gecareers.com.

"We are certainly anxious to find more great people," French said.

—[email protected] or 256-340-2460.

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