Cantwell Announces Over $9 Million to Protect Aviation Manufacturing Jobs in Washington State

Cantwell-championed program has delivered $50 million to local aviation manufactures in Washington and is expected to save nearly 3,000 jobs

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chair of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, announced that 17 Washington state aviation manufacturers have been awarded a total $9 million in federal funding to protect or create nearly 500 critical, high-skilled supply chain jobs.  Today’s award follows Cantwell’s September announcement of a total $41 million in grants to 32 Washington state aviation manufacturers, estimated to protect 2,280 aerospace jobs. Senator Cantwell led the effort to secure funding for the Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection Program (AMJP) in the American Rescue Plan which passed in March. 

“These additional grants will help protect another 463 aviation supply chain jobs at 17 Washington state companies, from large suppliers to small businesses. This critical workforce — largely made up of machinists and engineers — is the backbone of the region’s leading aerospace ecosystem, and we must support it as the sector continues to recover from the COVID pandemic slowdown,” said Senator Cantwell.

In February, Cantwell spoke on the Senate floor on the importance of including this funding for the aviation sector to prevent further job loss and emphasized its significance for Washington state’s workforce, “We have to continue to focus on our airline sector, which is basically about 5% of our GDP. We need to focus on aviation manufacturing.”

The health of the aerospace supply chain is critical to the U.S. aviation industry as a whole. Nationwide, pre-pandemic levels showed the aerospace industry employed about 2.19 million jobs with 58 percent attributed to supply chain jobs. Prior to COIVD-19, Washington state supported 130,000 direct aerospace employees and produced 1,400 aircraft and unmanned aerial systems, accounting for more than $50 billion product exports annually.

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the aviation manufacturing, maintenance, repair and overhaul industries. More than 100,000 supply chain jobs have already been lost since the outbreak of the pandemic, including 30,000 jobs in Washington State.

The Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection Program will support this critical workforce through grants to retain, rehire or recall skilled employees. Additional rounds of AMJP funding will further help mitigate these risks to the industry and will support the overall recovery of the aviation sector.

In March, Cantwell wrote Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg asking the agency to quickly implement the program. In June and again in July, Senator Cantwell urged Washington state aerospace manufactures to retain their employees by applying to the AMJP program before the application deadline.

Second Round Washington AMJP Awardees:

A list of the first round of awardees can be found HERE.

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