Honeywell Aerospace is moving its research and development engineering operations out of its Tucson-area plant.
Honeywell will keep some employees at its longtime facility, at 11100 N. Oracle Road, but the company declined to say how many employees are affected by the move or how many will stay on. A contract manufacturing operation run there by Toronto, Canada-based Celestica Inc. will continue, Honeywell spokesman Scott Sayres said.
“Honeywell is moving research and development engineering roles from Tucson, Arizona, to other U.S. aerospace sites,” the company said in a prepared statement. “This is not a decision we made lightly as we realize this, unfortunately, affects valued employees. We’ve notified affected employees and are encouraging them to apply for other Honeywell positions. We will offer severance and outplacement assistance to those eligible.”
As recently as 2017, Honeywell reported more than 700 employees worked at the site, which makes aircraft equipment including cabin air-pressure devices, electronic engine control systems and sensors, electronic power system components, pressure sensors and circuit boards.
Parent company Honeywell International has laid off thousands of employees starting with a restructuring last year and accelerating this year with new cuts to cope with the pandemic’s hit on the airline industry.
Officials of Celestica did not return messages seeking comment.
Honeywell’s aerospace business is based in Phoenix, where the company also has several manufacturing sites, and the company reported nearly 8,000 employees statewide in 2019.
In its second-quarter 2020 financial report issued in July, North Carolina-based Honeywell International said it had cut 9,929 manufacturing and administrative positions across the company in the first six months of the year, mainly in its aerospace and performance materials and technologies businesses.
Honeywell Aerospace has announced plant closures in Alabama, Minnesota and New York as it consolidates work to other sites.
Celestica, a multinational supplier of electronics manufacturing services spun off from IBM Corp. in the mid-1990s, performs contract work for many major companies in sectors including aerospace, industrial and health care.
The company has about 28,000 employees working at more than 30 sites across North America, Europe and Asia and had 2019 revenue of $5.9 billion.
Celestica says its manufacturing operation on North Oracle Road is a certified “Center of Excellence” for the aerospace and defense market, performing design, manufacturing, testing, upgrade and repair of electronic products used in commercial aviation, general aviation and military applications.
The site specializes in electric power generating systems, electronic engine controls and sensors, and cabin pressure-control systems, according to the company’s site description.
Built in 1985 by Garrett AiResearch, the Honeywell site on North Oracle Road near North First Avenue sits on an unincorporated area within the boundaries of Oro Valley.
