BE Aerospace Moving Headquarters
BE Aerospace Corp., a maker of aircraft cabin equipment, said Tuesday that it will move its corporate headquarters to Florida and has already moved a Santa Ana manufacturing division to a larger building in Irvine.
BE Aerospace officials said the moves will not result in local layoffs. The company will move its corporate staff to a permanent headquarters in Wellington, Fla., from several locations across the nation, including Santa Ana. A spokesman for the company said that about 10 people will work at the corporate headquarters in Florida.
In addition, the company’s avionics division was moved from a 24,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Santa Ana to a 55,000-square-foot plant in Irvine to accommodate a rush of orders for its video screens, which are installed in the backs of airliner seats.
About 200 employees are expected to work at the new building at 17481 Red Hill Ave. in Irvine, and no jobs are expected to be cut as a result of the move, spokesman Jay Jacobsen said. “We needed a modern facility to more efficiently handle our orders for the video units,” he said.
BE Aerospace also said it has opened a sales and service office in Beijing, China, as part of an effort to expand the company’s reach into the Pacific Rim. The company makes a variety of components for the interior of airliner cabins, from passenger entertainment systems to galleys.
At a Glance: BE Aerospace
* Corporate headquarters: Moving on Oct. 1 from Santa Ana to Wellington, Fla.
* Corporate officers: Amin J. Khoury, chairman and chief executive; Robert J. Khoury, president and chief operating officer.
* Manufacturing branches: Irvine; Jacksonville, Delray Beach and Altamonte Springs, Fla.; Beijing.
* Nature of business: Designs, manufactures, sells and services entertainment systems, seating and galley structures for aircraft.
* Employees: 3,441 worldwide; 1,500 in Orange County.
* 1992 sales: $126.8 million.*
* Thursday’s stock close: $14 a share, down 25 cents.
* BE Aerospace changed its fiscal-year end from July to February after acquiring PTC Aerospace Inc. and Aircraft Products Co.; figure is based on a 12-month fiscal year and includes revenue from the acquisitions. The fiscal-year sales figure for 1992 based on seven months, minus the acquisitions, is $12.2 million.
Source: BE Aerospace
