Aero Machining Wins $10.9-Million Boeing Contract

Aero Machining Co., a 4-year-old aircraft component maker in Garden Grove, received a six-year, $10.9-million contract Thursday for machined parts for Boeing Co.’s C-17 military cargo jet.

The contract was the first awarded in the C-17 program under a new Boeing system that eliminates competitive bidding. Instead, contracts will be awarded based on subcontractors’ histories with Boeing, including quality, timeliness and economy.

Joe Sorrentino, Aero Machining’s quality-control director, said the contract will provide the 30-employee company “with a lot of stability over the next few years.”

Aero Machining, founded in 1994 by brothers Tony and Michael Cabral, has grown from $300,000 in sales its first year to about $6 million this year, Sorrentino said. Helped by the new contract, the company expects revenue to top $10 million next year, he said.

The Boeing C-17 contract calls for Aero Machining to produce as many as 260 parts for the huge cargo jets. Sorrentin said that while the company works “almost exclusively” as a subcontractor for Boeing, it does work for numerous Boeing operations in military and civilian aircraft production.

The C-17 pact is the company’s largest single contract, he said.