Bellingham manufacturer to close its facility next year, citing pandemic impact
A longtime major manufacturer will be closing its Bellingham facility in 2021.
Safran Cabins is closing its Bellingham operations sometime next year in response to a sharp decline in global air travel as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Christelle Kinkead, who represents the company’s U.S. communications department.
Kinkead added in an email to The Bellingham Herald that Safran Cabin is committed to taking all reasonable measures, including career transition support, to ensure every employee in Bellingham is supported during this transition.
The company told its employees in mid-September before announcing it publicly on Monday, Sept. 28. The Bellingham facility makes a variety of products for the airline industry, including overhead stowage compartments and ceiling panels.
The Bellingham facility currently has 250 employees; at various points in its history the facility had more than 600 employees. In April the company laid off 205 workers through the state’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification program.
According to its website, the Bellingham facility has 200,000 square feet of production space, which is about 40,000 square feet bigger than the Bellingham Costco.
Kinkead said the company will begin transferring work to other facilities next year, with a full closure expected at the end of 2021. The company will give employees 60 days notice before a layoff.
The facility has been a fixture in Bellingham since 1990 under a variety of names, including Heath Tecna and Zodiac Aerospace. The Woburn Street manufacturer has experienced an influx of hiring and layoffs over the years, depending on what is happening in the economy and particularly the airline industry. One of its key clients in recent years has been the Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation.
Another blow to Whatcom industry
With the curtailment of Alcoa’s Intalco Works facility near Ferndale earlier this summer, which laid off 700 employees, it’s another blow to what had been a growing industry locally before the pandemic.
“When you think about the impact of that (Safran) facility, the employable workforce that it would draw is significant,” said Guy Occhiogrosso, president and CEO of the Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce.
For some of the longtime employees, news of the eventual closure came as a shock. Dana Kowalewski, who has worked there for around 17 years, said the company has had its ups and downs over the years when trouble hit the airline industry, but had always pulled through.
“A lot of us are having a hard time processing this,” Kowalewski said.
Kowalewski grew up in the aerospace industry, with her father working at Boeing. She was fascinated with airplanes and admired the work culture there, so she went into the industry. Known as Heath Tecna at the time, she started on the production floor and has held other jobs there, including the painting and certification departments.
While the work there could be stressful, particularly when big orders came in, she said she enjoyed working with the people there. While workers would come and go, it always felt like a tight-knit group, she said.
She said that while it is good that they have time before the Bellingham facility closes, allowing them a chance to find new work, it is sad not just for the workers but the community.
Safran Cabin has more than 13,000 employees and is a part of Safran S.A., a French multinational aircraft, space and defense company.
This story was originally published September 28, 2020 at 3:47 PM.
