UTC Aerospace Systems is considering an expansion at its big West Plains manufacturing facility, a company spokeswoman says.

The company currently occupies a 135,400-square-foot building at 11135 W. Westbow Blvd. and employs 170 full-time workers there, says Valerie Francis, communications manager at the company’s Troy, Ohio, plant who also handles inquiries related to the Spokane plant.

The West Plains facility manufactures carbon friction braking materials for both commercial and military aircraft. “We use chemical processes to produce our brakes, and as the business grows, we add equipment and people,” Francis says.

She declines to elaborate on the potential size of a plant expansion here, when it might occur, or how many additional workers might be added.

However, she says, ““We have a great product and successful business that we have been able to grow over the years in Spokane and we expect that to continue.”

Last month, Qatar Airways selected UTC Aerospace Systems to supply the wheels and carbon brakes for its fleet of 43 Airbus A350-900 aircraft. The company will provide the equipment through its Landing Systems facility in Troy, Ohio. It isn’t yet known whether the UTC’s Spokane plant will contribute to that effort.

UTC Aerospace Systems designs, manufactures, and services integrated systems and components for the aerospace and defense industries and is based in Charlotte, N.C. It touts itself as one of the world’s largest suppliers of technologically advanced products for those industries. It’s part of publicly traded United Technologies Corp, which is based in Hartford, Conn.

Goodrich Corp. which had been based in Charlotte and had claimed to be the world’s largest producer of carbon composites for aircraft braking applications, opened the $66 million plant on the West Plains in September 1999. 

United Technologies agreed to buy Goodrich in late 2001 for $16.5 billion. The acquisition capped a years-long pursuit by United Technologies, whose aviation brands also included Pratt & Whitney jet engines and Sikorsky helicopters, the Bloomberg news agency said at that time.

Robin Toth, vice president of business development at Greater Spokane Incorporated, says she is hopeful the company will move forward with an expansion here. 

“We see them as a premier aerospace company in our region,” Toth says. “They’re an important part of the aeronautics supply chain.”

Toth says she has met with representatives from UTC Aerospace Systems at least once a year for the last three years. 

“They are vital to our region. We want them to continue to grow and add to our economy,” she says.

United Technologies Corp., with a global workforce of approximately 42,000 people, has a new CEO in Greg Hayes who took the top job last November. The company publicly announced shortly thereafter that executives would be reviewing “all UTC Aerospace Systems holdings.”

Last month, an aerospace unit of United Technologies Corp. announced the elimination of 90 jobs, which it hoped could be achieved through voluntary buyouts of hourly workers. Located in Windsor Locks, Conn., that facility is still the largest among all of those the company operates, with about 3,500 employees.

Mary Stanton, of the Spokane employment agency Career Path Services, has served as a liaison between the local aerospace industry, Spokane Community College, and WorkSource Spokane. She said the aerospace industry in the region continues to flourish.