Aircraft Parts Firm Quits California for New Mexico

California Aerodynamics, which has been making aircraft parts in Los Angeles for 33 years, closed its plant in South-Central Los Angeles on Friday and will shutter its Sun Valley plant later this month. Both operations are being moved to Albuquerque, N.M.

The company, which specializes in producing sheet metal parts on machines called drop hammers, employed about 80 people; 34 of them will have jobs at the New Mexico plant, according to owner Paul Eskew Jr.

Based on the state’s poor financial condition, Eskew said he could see no end to the rising cost of doing business in California. Meanwhile, competition among aircraft producers has forced vendors also to cut their costs.

New Mexico offered incentives that will ultimately be worth $1.5 million, compared to immediate relocation costs of $500,000, Eskew said.

The Albuquerque mayor and City Council, as well as the New Mexico governor, became involved in the move, he said. Eskew said he expects wages there to be 25% less than the current average of $14.50 per hour.

Eskew said he never sought incentives from California, and no state official made any attempt to head off the relocation. The company, which Eskew and his parents founded in 1960, will change its name to Aero Part Manufacturing & Repair.

Although the departure of major aerospace firms has grabbed headlines, smaller companies increasingly are being solicited to move to other states, where business costs are lower. Even with many departures, Los Angeles is still generally regarded as the largest center of machine shops and metal forming in the United States.