Revenue at Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. plunged 20 percent between the fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of 2008, as the company struggled to deliver a vastly more complex version of its Black Hawk military helicopter.
Stratford-based Sikorsky is a subsidiary of Hartford-based United Technologies Corp., and is the largest employer in Fairfield County with 8,300 workers.
Sikorsky revenue was just above $1 billion, down $255 million from the fourth quarter last year and up a mere $17 million from a year ago. With a 2 percent year-over-year gain, Sikorsky was the lone UTC division not to achieve double-digit growth from the first quarter of 2006.
Overall, UTC revenue reached $13.7 billion, up 12 percent from a year ago. Sikorsky contributed $82 million in operating income to UTC”™s $1 billion profit for the quarter.
Despite Sikorsky producing its lowest revenue and profits in a year, UTC still projects Sikorsky to lead all divisions in revenue growth this year, with sales expected to be up 15 percent from 2007.
It will have some catching up to do ”“ Sikorsky delivered 30 helicopters, 16 fewer than the fourth quarter of 2007 and seven fewer than the first quarter last year when it was recovering from a labor strike.
UTC is now shipping an updated version of its Black Hawk helicopter that currently requires 12,000 labor hours to produce, triple the sweat equity going into earlier versions. Despite the slow start, the company should still reach its goal of 200 helicopters for the year, according to Greg Hayes, UTC vice president of accounting and finance.
“We”™ve got to get these helicopters moving down the line,” Hayes said in a conference call with analysts. “Obviously it”™s got our attention.”
In November 2006 Sikorsky came under fire from Pentagon auditors for a slow rebound from a labor strike the previous spring. In addition to the strike, Sikorsky has been outsourcing some assembly work ”“ for instance, the Czech Republic-based AERO Vodochody A.S. announced last week that it recently completed its 200th fuselage for Sikorsky”™s S-76 mid-size helicopter.
In separate Sikorsky news, the U.S. Air Force tacked another three months onto its timeline for a revised award of a $15 billion contract for search-and-rescue helicopters. Originally awarded to Chicago-based Boeing Co., both Sikorsky and Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin Corp. exploited a bid technicality to force the Air Force to solicit bids anew. The Air Force now expects to award the contract in October.
