American Airlines' decision good for other Tulsa firms

Tulsa aerospace companies Thursday reacted to the news that the American Airlines maintenance base is secure in Tulsa. It's been said that 17,000 jobs are indirectly tied to the presence of the base

Thursday, September 11th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Tulsa aerospace companies Thursday reacted to the news that the American Airlines maintenance base is secure in Tulsa. It's been said that 17,000 jobs are indirectly tied to the presence of the base here.

Nordam employs close to 2,000 people in Tulsa. Among other things, they provide windows, radomes and thrusters for American jets. They do business with a lot of companies, but they say there's nothing like having a customer right down the street. Nordamâ€™s Hastings Siegfried, â€œwe do have a competitive and distinct advantage with having American close by us. The shipping costs are less, we have a good relationship with them."

Nordamâ€™s management says even in the age of e-mail and teleconferencing, there's no substitute for face-to-face contact.