By Mike Allen
Photo: Workers at GKN opening ceremony
December 18, 2024 (El Cajon) -- The site that was once planned as an Amazon warehouse is taking shape to house some of the most sophisticated machinery in the world, as well as the skilled workers to run it.
Just across the street from Gillespie Field at the confluence of Cuyamaca Street and Weld Avenue is the new home for GKN Aerospace, a top tier aircraft components supplier and refurbisher of engines for such customers as Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce, General Electric and Boeing.
GKN has been operating in El Cajon for more than 70 years, but its two segments, OEM (original equipment manufacturer) and Repair Solutions, have been growing at such a nice clip, soit needed added room.
“We’ve outgrown that campus and needed a little more space so we decided to move the repair solutions here,” said Eric Viklund, vice president of strategic growth. The company held an opening day ceremony on December 17.
A “little” translates to about 162,000 more square feet or about a third of the new Weld Distribution Center that began construction some two years ago. Viklund said the plan is to relocate some 300 employees to the new facility, and hire another 50 workers next year. At the current West Bradley Avenue site, there are about 850 total employees, making it among the largest employers in East County.
GKN Aerospace said it spent about $55 million on the project both in construction and new machinery to maintain the competitive edge it has with its customers, which are most of the world’s airlines.
When you’re talking about that size of an investment, it isn’t done lightly and not without considerable research on the best location for the expansion, said Joakim Anderson, president of GKN Engines. But after going through the process, the company determined El Cajon, the site where it was already doing maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) work for the last 40 years made the best sense, he said.
“We’ve done repair work here for 40 years and it’s time to take it to the next level” Andersson said.
He noted the growth of commercial airline traffic is the key driver to the local expansion. Today, some 25,000 jets are flying the skies, but over the next two decades, “we think that’ll be 50,000,” he said. “That’s 100,000 engines.”
To give a value on what the aerospace industry means to the San Diego region and state, State Sen. Brian Jones (photo, second from right) noted in his speech that it employs more than 500,000 people, generates some $100 billion in revenue and about $7 billion in state and local taxes. “When aerospace does well, all sectors of the California economy benefits,” Jones said.
In a tour of the still unfinished warehouse floor, project manager Aaron Parkinson (photo, left) showed visitors the various steps that jet engine blades go through before being returned to the airline customers. The MRO work, which included the use of robotic machinery on the engine blades and other components “is our bread and butter. We do about 50,000 to 60,000 blades a year,” he said.
An average blade may cost about $150,000, although those made for the defense department, say for an F-35 jet, will run more than $1 million, so the industry’s emphasis is on maintaining aircraft equipment quality. A typical blade needs maintenance every six to seven years.
GKN is constantly reevaluating its systems and upgrading its technology in an effort to maximize the performance and longevity of the engine’s parts while minimizing the heretofore disposal of certain parts, Parkinson said.
“Our goal is to stop throwing components away.”
Both GKN executives and elected officials speaking at the ceremony noted the success the company has attained is largely the result of its dedicated and skilled workers, several hundred of whom were in attendance.
Assemblyman Chris Ward said the company’s expansion was mostly due to the company’s local workforce. “This is about the people here who are going to be able to make the business grow, and your investment is going to have a profound impact on this region, creating a lot of well-paying, high skilled jobs,” Ward said. On the firm’s website, he said there are openings for machinists, programmers, engineers and electricians.
Chris Blessum, GKN’s HR director, said the positions for the bulk of the staffing excluding management at the new facility pay annual salaries ranging from $55,000 to more than $130,000.
To help GKN get many of these jobs filled, the state of California’s Employment Training Panel recently awarded a $785,000 grant to the company.
While GKN Aerospace keeps a low profile locally, it’s known worldwide as a supplier of both aircraft parts that range from engine components, wing and fuselage parts, electrical systems and windows, and a dominant player in the MRO space. It competes in both the civil and defense realms. As a subsidiary of Melrose PLC, a London stock exchange traded company, GKN is on track to surpass 3 billion pounds in revenue this year with the repair solutions segment alone exceeding $100 million next year.
GKN’s roots can be traced to the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution in England, when the Dowlais Ironworks Co was founded in 1759 in Wales. The first products revolved around making iron parts for Britain’s new railroads and bridges, but also included cannon balls during the Napoleonic Wars. Ever evolving and shifting through the various changes inherent in technological progress, the company also acquired and merged and at one point in the 1900s was known as Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds, Ltd.
Today, GKN Aerospace operates from 31 locations in 12 countries, employing some 16,000 workers, including its newest site in El Cajon.