AEDC work force faces reduction

President Obama's 2010 budget request includes a $24 million reduction in funding for contractor labor at the U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center, according to an AEDC news release.

The cuts would take effect Oct. 1, with the start of a new federal fiscal year.

Aerospace Testing Alliance (ATA), a joint venture of Jacobs, Computer Sciences Corp. and General Physics, is the center's primary contractor. The company says it wants to use involuntary layoffs only as a last resort and wants to find alternate ways of addressing the cuts.

In a letter sent to all ATA employees Thursday, ATA General Manager Dr. David Elrod said, "As we work through our planning for next fiscal year, it is apparent that the workload and overall funding for ATA will be reduced from this year's levels. At this point, the total staffing requirements for FY10 appear to be 150 to 220 employees lower than this year's requirement. Attrition and reduction in overtime usage can lessen that gap slightly, but not eliminate it. The workload and our funding for next year are (as always) subject to further change in the months to come. There are factors which could cause the gap to increase and other factors which might cause it to shrink as we go forward. We will work to keep each of you informed as the workload matures and becomes more certain."

If layoffs are required, ATA says it will follow "a consistent and equitable method" for reducing and realigning its workforce.

ATA officials say they are working with ATA's parent companies to find opportunities for employees to transfer elsewhere.

AEDC, a collection of ground-based aerospace test facilities including wind tunnels and rocket engine test cells, is located in Coffee and Franklin counties; last fall, the AEDC Public Affairs office reported that 145 of the center's 2,742 employees were from Bedford County, which would rank AEDC among Bedford County's mid-sized industrial employers.