Parts manufacturer GKN Aerospace is closing its manufacturing facility in Hazelwood, Missouri, by the end of 2024, laying off over 700 workers, according to the state’s WARN site.
The Hazelwood facility had been struggling for years, a GKN Aerospace spokesperson told Manufacturing Dive in an email.
“Over the past decade, GKN Aerospace has invested more than $80 [million] in the site, and sought to move work from other GKN Aerospace sites to St. Louis to support it,” the spokesperson said. “However, having carried out a thorough assessment of the site’s capabilities and cost base, it became clear it was no longer financially viable.”
Employees were notified of the company’s closure plans in February 2022, according to a letter to President Joe Biden from Robert Martinez Jr., international president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. The labor union sought out Biden’s help to keep the Hazelwood plant from closing.
The first round of layoffs is expected to begin on Aug. 25 as the company winds down the plant’s operations and conducts employee separations, according to the WARN letter.
The final layoff will be by the end of 2024. No bumping rights exist.
The plant was acquired from defense giant Boeing almost 20 years ago, according to the company’s website. The plant supplied composite and metallic aerostructure parts to Boeing, Sikorsky, Bell Helicoptors and Lockheed Martin.
For Boeing specifically, the plant produced “essential, complex parts” for its fighter jets which the U.S. Air Force, Navy and allies utilize, the St. Louis Business Journal reported in May.
News of the closure comes amid a lawsuit Boeing filed in December at the St. Louis County Court against GKN Aerospace’s parent company, Melrose Industries.
Boeing accused the United Kingdom-based company of failing to gain a profit from the GKN Aerospace St. Louis and of breaching contracts to supply it, the St. Louis Business Journal reported. The defense behemoth also accused Melrose Industries of trying to avoid liability and make Boeing acquire the company on “unfavorable terms,” the St. Louis Business Journal reported.
Attorneys for GKN Aerospace have filed a motion to dismiss the case and had filed a lawsuit against Boeing at the Delaware Court of Chancery in December, the St. Louis Business Journal reported. Boeing filed a motion to dismiss the case, according to the most recent court filing.
GKN Aerospace cannot comment on Boeing at this time, the spokesperson said.
