Kaman to Mfr. and Assemble 747-8 Fairings

Kaman Corp. officials announced Nov. 21, 2013, that its aerospace segment has entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Boeing Canada Winnipeg for the manufacture and assembly of two major sections of the 747-8 Wing-to-Body Fairing.

 

Kaman will manufacture most components at its facilities in Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, and Vermont with final assembly to be completed at the company's Jacksonville, Fla., facility and delivered directly to Boeing's wide-body assembly line in Everett, Wash. The MOA has a potential value, depending on production rates, in excess of $60 million.

 

"This agreement with Boeing exemplifies our 'One Kaman' philosophy and the efforts of our team across the aerospace segment. Kaman has a broad array of capabilities to offer aerospace customers. We are committed to bringing forth those capabilities on a consolidated and cohesive basis to provide our customers with a one-stop shop solution," comments Greg Steiner, president Kaman Aerospace Group.

 

"We are very pleased with the confidence Boeing is expressing in our capabilities by awarding us this work on the 747-8 wing-to-body fairing. We have a long and mutually beneficial relationship with Boeing, having supplied various structures to them for more than three decades. We believe this product is the beginning of an enhanced relationship that could lead to further off-load opportunities," states Neal J. Keating, Kaman Corp.'s chairman, president, and CEO.

 

The 747-8 wing-to-body fairing is currently manufactured by Boeing at its Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, facility. Kaman and Boeing expect to execute a contract in the next several weeks. Transitional efforts are already underway on this program and it is expected that Kaman will begin delivering assemblies during the first half of 2014.