ULA to lay off 350 workers

United Launch Alliance announced today it will eliminate 350 jobs in in February. The job losses will be spread across all locations. A second round of layoffs could occur in the fourth quarter of 2009.

The company employs 4,200 nationwide, with about 800 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. ULA will announce how the layoffs will be distributed before the end of the year, company spokeswoman Julie Andrews said.

According to a ULA press release:

This reduction is the result of a number of factors that have been predicted since the formation of ULA, including:

-Atlas and Delta product line integration, creating efficiencies and eliminating redundancies.
-Completion of the Delta II MLV-III contract, the market downturn and the subsequent program restructure to adjust to a reduced launch rate.
-Elimination of Huntington Beach, Calif., operations which supported ULA during its first two years of operation.



Other factors have emerged more recently to create a larger reduction than previously forecast, including tightening federal budgets in fiscal years 2009 and 2010, which affects Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle launch contracts.

ULA has notified its workforce of the pending reduction.

"Since ULA began operations, we have anticipated that we would become a smaller company as we consolidate our product lines and functions," Michael Gass, ULA president and CEO said. "We are also facing further reductions as a result of downward pressure on the federal budget, from which we derive the majority of our revenue."

Gass added, "Workforce reduction decisions are always difficult, but our actions are intended to ensure we retain the right skills and technical abilities to meet our current and future work. We also intend to take reasonable steps to mitigate the disruption to our employees and will offer outplacement services to those who are affected."

ULA program management, engineering, test and mission support functions are headquartered in Denver. Manufacturing, assembly and integration operations are located at Decatur, Ala., Harlingen, Tex. and San Diego, Calif. Launch operations are located at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., and Vandenberg AFB, Calif.

For more information on the ULA joint venture, visit the ULA Web site at www.ulalaunch.com, or call the ULA Launch Hotline at 1-877-ULA-4321 (852-4321)