The Week in Aerospace: Productive Liaisons

Javier Corral, Governor of Chihuahua, has declared, through the Ministry of Innovation and Economic Development (SIDE), that the State of Arizona will open an Arizona Trade & Investment Office to assist the aerospace industry in trade and investment opportunities on both sides of the border. The Arizona Government clarified that the partnership aims to represent the interests of OEMs and suppliers based in Mexico. An agreement with Guanajuato may not be far behind, as it is the state with the most dynamic economy in the Bajio. The Arizona Trade & Investment Office in Guanajuato will serve as a regional trade office, helping more than 1,200 Arizona aerospace and defense companies to participate in supply chains in the Bajio region.

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NATIONAL

• Emilio Otero, Director General of Mexicana de Aviación, announced he aims to stabilize MRO operations to cover debts with employees. Otero estimated that within four months, the company dedicated to line maintenance and major aircraft overhaul of Bombardier, Airbus and Boeing units would have the financial stability to finalize its sale.

• Sonora Governor Claudia Pavlovich met with Peter Tempel, Ambassador of Germany in Mexico to strengthen international cooperation in education, economic development and environmental matters. In this regard, the German Ambassador to Mexico Peter Tempel, stressed Sonora's vocation toward aerospace and environmental protection through the development of renewable energy, which has generated interest among German investors.

• Guanajuato, Tijuana and Merida airports achieve greater dynamism due to tourism and manufacturing momentum. According to data from the Ministry of Communications and Transportation, nationally, cargo mobilization decreased 2.8 percent in 2019 compared to 2018 to 1.02 million tons, though the number of passengers increased by 6.0 percent to 157.5 million visitors.

INTERNATIONAL

• Collins Aerospace Systems has signed a contract with Lockheed Martin to provide critical subsystems to support the production of NASA's Orion spacecraft fleet for Artemis III to VIII missions. The systems provided by Collins Aerospace, valued at US$320 million, will play an important role in achieving NASA's goal of reaching the moon in 2024 to prepare for missions to Mars.

• Boeing suffered its first annual loss since 1997, with 737 MAX costs approaching US$19 billion. The company said it would limit production of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft, which is current cash cow.