Raytheon Grows in Corporate Completions, Furnishing BBJs
and Even a Widebody 777

Better known for its military modification capabilities and Air Force One outfitting, Waco, TX-based Raytheon Systems Company is parlaying that experience into numerous contracts for corporate conversions.

About one month ago, the company disclosed contracts valued at $125 million for design, engineering and installation of executive VIP interiors on 11 Boeing Business Jet aircraft and one Boeing 777-the first such modification for the Triple Seven. The work will be performed for domestic and international customers.

In addition, the company has what it says are "numerous" other BBJ contracts pending for head-of-state and international governments. The Waco facility was formerly Raytheon's E-Systems division, and before that it was Chrysler Technologies Airborne Systems.

The plant employs about 2,000 in the areas of commercial and military aircraft engineering and modification. It specializes in B-747 and DC-10 passenger-to-freighter conversions, EFIS cockpit conversions and special mission modifications for airborne surveillance. It is also the largest facility in North or South America for head-of-state and VIP conversions.

Raytheon Systems is one of six modification centers working with Boeing on interior completions for the BBJ, developing and packaging the BBJ interior to fit the needs of CEOs, business executives and international governments. The other companies are: Associated Air Center, Dallas, TX; The Jet Center, Van Nuys, CA; Jet Aviation, Basel, Switzerland; K-C Aviation, Dallas, TX; and Lufthansa Technik, of Hamburg, Germany.

"Entering into this new BBJ market was a natural for use as we have a long history of modifying aircraft interiors for heads of state of other executives," said Raytheon Systems' Ken Peek, director of commercial programs.

In the past six years, the Waco division has delivered eight widebody aircraft in VIP and head-of-state configurations-four B-747s, two Airbus A340s, a B-767 and an Airbus A310.

Raytheon performs Hawker 800XP completions at Little Rock. The Arkansas center is expected to expand in the next several years once Raytheon brings the Hawker Horizon into production.

It is also expected that Raytheon will expand its main facility in Wichita, where it manufactures the Beechjet 400A and King Air turboprops. Completions of the new Premier I all-composite, entry-level business jet are expected to begin next summer in Wichita, too.

Raytheon's Waco facility consists of four hangars, one of which is dedicated to painting, plus a manufacturing building. Total footage is 1.15 million square feet. The Wichita site has 106,000 square feet dedicated to completions, and employs about 135 people. The Little Rock facility is the smallest of the three at 51,800 square feet. It specializes in avionics installations and custom interiors.

By Barry Rosenberg