WINNIPEG — An aerospace industry conference in Winnipeg last week that attracted leaders from some of the largest players in the world was an indication — despite layoffs and uncertainties that have wracked the global aerospace and aviation sectors — Manitoba members remain on solid footing.

While local industry officials said the workforce may not yet be back to pre-COVID pandemic numbers of about 5,300, there is consensus it is on the way.

Boeing Canada laid off close to 500 people from its Winnipeg staff of 1,500 in 2020, as international flights were grounded virtually overnight.

Charles (Duff) Sullivan, Ottawa-based president of Boeing Canada, said this week most of those people should be back by September.

Sullivan and Lewis Prebble, airlines and fleet president of StandardAero — the massive gas turbine engine maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business formed in Winnipeg more than 100 years ago — both spoke at the Aerospace Manufacturing and MRO Conference (May 2-3).

Both doubled down on their commitment to Winnipeg operations.

StandardAero moved its head office to Arizona years ago, and has been bought and sold by private equity firms about four times over the past 20 years, but its Winnipeg operations remain its largest facility, with close to 1,500 employees.

While conference attendees heard a lot about new technology (electric engines, hybrid engines, sustainable aircraft fuel as the industry furiously tries to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050), Winnipeg’s large players in the sector seem to be well-positioned for the future.

Prebble said while the impression may be StandardAero is not growing in Winnipeg (its last major expansion was more than 10 years ago, when it won the contract to service WestJet’s fleet of GE CFM56 engines that power 79 of its Boeing Next-Generation 737 aircraft) there has been plenty of organic growth.

“It is easy to get the misconception that StandardAero has not grown in Winnipeg, but that’s not the case,” he said. “It is still a very integral part of our company.”

In addition to being the largest of the company’s 54 sites around the world, it has important core competencies.

“For instance, that WestJet contract was a real milestone for the company,” Prebble said. “And Winnipeg now has a strong engineering organization that supports our global network.”

Meanwhile, the entire industry is desperate to find workers.

The global demand forecast is about 41,000 new commercial airliners are going to have to be built in the next 20 years to accommodate additional travellers and the retirement of older planes, Sullivan said.

Production rates are going to have increase, he said, and Boeing has to plan to be able to do that, including at its Winnipeg composites plant.

The plant makes about 250 parts packages for every one of the company’s commercial airliner models.

Sullivan said it is the largest composite component manufacturing operation in Canada and the most advanced in Boeing’s entire enterprise.

“In fact, we are working toward future growth and expansion here in Winnipeg,” Sullivan said. “We would like to bring in additional work on the commercial side and also on the military side.

“Also, I am hoping to be able to have Winnipeg officially characterized as a Boeing centre of excellence and a research centre for future composite component manufacturing.”

Winnipeg’s other large player in the industry, Magellan Aerospace, did not make presentations at the conference because of a scheduling conflict with the company’s annual meeting.

Its Winnipeg operations expanded a few years ago, to accommodate ongoing work making parts for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter jet. In January, the Canadian government committed to buying 88 F-35s in the near future.

Wendell Wiebe, chief executive officer of advocacy group Manitoba Aerospace Inc., said one of the reasons the conference was organized was to give Manitoba’s small- and medium-sized companies exposure to the large aerospace players.

There have been plenty of efforts over the years to help smaller suppliers to get into the supply chain, Wiebe said.

“There been progress … but maybe not as much as I would have hoped,” he said. “It is a long process and the industry has a very high level of tolerance and a need for quality.”

There have been some recent successes, Wiebe said, including Argus Industries and MicroPilot.

“We continue to work on that and we continue to support them, and this [conference] is one of the ways.”

» Winnipeg Free Press