Aerospace Industrial base in Transition as Fleets Age

WASHINGTON — The aerospace industrial base is healthy but entering a transitional period, a panel of experts said Monday at the Air Force Association Air and Space Conference.

Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with the Teal Group; Jim McAleese, consultant and founder of McAleese associates; and David Melcher, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association discussed the coming paradigm shift as the US transforms from an aviation nation to an aerospace nation.

On the positive side, total output by the US aircraft industry totaled $96.9 billion in 2014, which accounted for 54.3 percent of production worldwide, Aboulafia said. But in the coming years, the landscape will be transformed by the retirement of numerous aircraft platforms.

Continue reading at http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/show-daily/afa/2015/09/14/aerospace-industrial-base-transition-fleets-age/72276760/.